Alcohol-to-jet production units at LanzaTech Freedom Pines Biorefinery in Soperton, Georgia.

LanzaTech recently announced a significant milestone—producing 1,500 gallons of renewable jet fuel from industrial waste gases. LanzaTech uses a jet fuel intermediate, called “Lanzanol,” which is then converted into a renewable jet fuel using technology developed in partnership with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO). Virgin Atlantic’s planes will use this final jet fuel product, which is compatible with existing aviation infrastructure.

Biofuels can provide an alternative, stable supply of aviation fuel that also has lower life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions. BETO applauds the airlines and fuel producers that are working diligently to expand the use of aviation biofuels. 

BETO organized a tour of LanzaTech’s Freedom Pines Biorefinery in Soperton, Georgia, as part of the Alternative Aviation Fuel Workshop on September 13–14. The workshop gathered more than 100 experts in aviation biofuels in Macon, Georgia, for a two-day event featuring panel discussions from leaders in biofuels, aviation, and environmental protection. The event also included facilitated breakout sessions with the objective of collecting stakeholder input about future strategies to bring even more biobased jet fuel to the market.

Research, development, and scale-up of renewable jet fuel technologies is part of BETO’s work to develop sustainable, cost-competitive biofuels and bioproducts from non-food biomass resources, including cellulosic biomass, algae, and wet waste, in order to increase U.S. energy independence, reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector, and increase economic opportunities.