Bill Gates founded Breakthrough Energy and has recently announced that its first Catalyst project funding will come in the form of a $50 million grant to LanzaJet’s Freedom Pines Fuels sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant in Soperton, Georgia.
Breakthrough Energy Catalyst is a unique program that brings together businesses and nonprofits to fund key first-of-its-kind commercial-scale projects that speed up the deployment of essential technologies.
LanzaJet’s Freedom Pines Fuels project will be the company’s first commercial-scale SAF plant. It will also be the first plant in the world to make alcohol-to-jet SAF, which it is hoped could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 70% compared to fossil jet fuel. The project is set to be finished in 2023.
This is potentially a big deal as about 2 per cent to 3 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from aviation annually. Since sustainable aviation fuels are “drop-in” fuels, they are an essential way to quickly reduce carbon emissions from aviation using the planes already in use worldwide.
Once it is fully running, this plant will be a crucial part of increasing SAF production and bringing sustainable fuels that are less expensive to the market. The plant is expected to make 9 million gallons of SAF and 1 million gallons of renewable diesel yearly.
Source: Interesting Engineering