Southwest Airlines Co. has announced the acquisition of SAFFiRE Renewables, LLC as part of the investment portfolio of its wholly owned subsidiary Southwest Airlines Renewable Ventures, LLC (SARV). This venture is dedicated to creating more opportunities for Southwest to obtain scalable sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
SAFFiRE is part of a project supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop and produce scalable renewable ethanol that can be upgraded into SAF. SAFFiRE expects to utilize technology developed at the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to convert corn stover, a widely available agricultural residue feedstock in the U.S., into renewable ethanol.
Southwest first invested in SAFFiRE during phase one of the pilot project in 2022. With this acquisition, SAFFiRE is expected to proceed with the second phase of the project by developing a pilot plant hosted at Conestoga’s Arkalon Energy ethanol facility in Liberal, KS. Initially, this plant is intended to utilize SAFFiRE’s technology license from NREL to process 10 tons of corn stover per day for the production of renewable ethanol. Then, the plan is for the ethanol to be converted into SAF by LanzaJet, Inc.
“Renewable ethanol is an important feedstock to realizing high-volume, affordable SAF, which is a critical part of the journey to net zero carbon emissions,” said Tom Nealon, president of SARV and CEO of SAFFiRE. “We are enthusiastic about the ethanol-to-SAF pathway and SAFFiRE’s potential ability to produce renewable ethanol at a scale that is economically viable.”
The acquisition of SAFFiRE comes shortly after Southwest announced an investment in LanzaJet, a SAF technology provider and producer with a patented ethanol-to-SAF technology and the world’s first ethanol-to-SAF commercial plant.
For more information, visit www.southwest.com/planet.
Related Stories
JetBlue, Spirit Terminate Merger Agreement
Houston Airports Improves Wi-Fi Connectivity for Travelers
SAS Partners With Airbus to Create Hydrogen-Powered Flights
FAA Halts Boeing 737 Max Production Over Quality Control Issues