Boeing-supported SAF project lands in Australia

LanzaTech Global Inc., an Illinois-based carbon recycling company transforming waste carbon into sustainable fuels, and LanzaJet Inc., a sustainable fuels technology company, have announced a project with Australia’s Wagner Sustainable Fuels to consider equipping the Brisbane SAF Refinery.

The facility would be equipped with CirculAir, LanzaTech and LanzaJet’s joint technology solution that converts waste carbon and renewable power into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). 

In addition to using the LanzaTech and LanzaJet technologies, the project has received investment from Boeing Co. and the Queensland government. The Brisbane SAF Refinery will create jobs in Queensland, increase domestic energy security for Australia and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from aviation. 

“LanzaTech and LanzaJet look forward to providing a joint commercial solution to support the work of Wagner Sustainable Fuels and advance the development of a domestic Australian SAF market,” says Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech and board chair of LanzaJet. “There is enough carbon above ground to transform the 100 billion gallons of fossil fuel-derived jet fuel consumed each year into reliable jet fuel made by recycled carbon, and the flexibility of the CirculAir technology makes it possible for this project to unlock the myriad waste-based resources required to meet that demand.”

The CirculAir process first utilizes LanzaTech’s commercial carbon recycling technology to transform localized waste streams, such as industrial emissions and municipal solid waste, into CarbonSmart ethanol. Then, LanzaJet’s alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) technology converts the ethanol into drop-in SAF. The process is expected to accelerate the decarbonization of the global aviation industry by utilizing a variety of locally sourced waste-based feedstocks to produce the SAF volumes needed to supplant fossil fuels.

“The Wagner Sustainable Fuels project in Brisbane allows Australia to continue to stand out as a leader in Sustainable Aviation Fuel, now leveraging CirculAir, the solution we created to convert different forms of waste carbon into sustainable fuels,” LanzaJet CEO Jimmy Samartzis says. “The combination of our leading SAF solution with the front-end of LanzaTech’s proven and commercial carbon recycling technology makes it possible to create a domestic SAF supply in Australia using local renewable waste sources, further supporting the country’s energy security, while also working to protect its natural environment.”