Virgin Atlantic and LanzaTech have developed a new low-carbon jet fuel made from waste industrial gases from steel mills.
After a five-year research project, the partnership has produced 1,500gal of the new jet fuel known as Lanzanol.
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Made from ethanol through a fermentation process, Lanzanol is expected to be 65% cleaner than conventional jet fuel.
Produced at Shougang’s roundtable of sustainable biomaterials (RSB) certified facility in China, the new alcohol-to-jet (AtJ) fuel has successfully completed all its initial performance tests.
LanzaTech and Virgin Atlantic are now planning to work with Boeing and other industry partners to complete the additional testing of the fuel, with plans to launch commercial flight powered by Lanzanol next year.
Virgin founder Richard Branson said: “This is a real game changer for aviation and could significantly reduce the industry’s reliance on oil within our lifetime. Virgin Atlantic was the first commercial airline to test a bio-fuel flight and continues to be a leader in sustainable aviation.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData“We chose to partner with LanzaTech because of its impressive sustainability profile and the commercial potential of the jet fuel.
“Our understanding of low-carbon fuels has developed rapidly over the last decade, and we are closer than ever before to bringing a sustainable product to the market for commercial use by Virgin Atlantic and other global airlines.”
Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL) and the US Department of Energy (DOE) are also involved in the project, which received funding from HSBC.
Responding to the development, WWF-UK climate and aviation specialist James Beard said: “Decarbonisation of heavy industry and aviation will be difficult, which makes converting industrial waste gases into low-carbon jet fuel a fascinating prospect.
“All airlines should pursue the development of genuinely sustainable, low-carbon fuels that are certified to minimise indirect land use change.
“UN aviation agency ICAO, meeting later this month in Montreal, needs to incentivise investment in sustainable solutions through the setting of global sustainability criteria for low-carbon aviation fuels, credited towards its climate goals.”
WWF is currently working to secure climate change solutions for the aviation sector through International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
