LanzaJet, a company specializing in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) technology and production, announced a significant investment from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), a major Tokyo-based banking group. This investment is part of LanzaJet’s current $100 million growth equity funding round, which is aimed at scaling its ethanol-to-SAF technology.
LanzaJet was launched in 2020 by LanzaTech, a carbon recycling technology company. Based in Illinois, LanzaJet has developed an “Alcohol-to-Jet” technology that enables the production of SAF and renewable diesel from waste-based and sustainable ethanol sources. These sources include low-carbon sugarcane, energy crops, forest residuals, agricultural wastes, and organic waste.
Earlier this year, LanzaJet started up what it claims to be the first-ever commercial-scale ethanol-to-SAF plant, Freedom Pines Fuels, located in Soperton, Georgia. This plant has an annual production capacity of 10 million gallons of SAF and renewable diesel. According to LanzaJet, Freedom Pines will serve as a model for scaling up its technology to increase SAF production. The company has set a target of reaching 1 billion gallons of SAF production by 2030.
