In Japan, All Nippon Airways (ANA) has announced that it has signed an off-take agreement with US-headed carbon recycling and bioprocess technology developer LanzaTech, Inc. that will allow the company to purchase sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
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Although the deal with LanzaTech is a “significant step” in ANA’s efforts to minimize its environmental impact and meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is not the first time that Japan’s largest airline has utilized sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The current LanzaTech agreement targets 2021 for the delivery of SAF.
ANA has always been guided by our values, and our decision to transition to sustainable aviation fuel reflects how seriously we take our commitment to the environment. Adopting this advanced fuel will allow us to reduce CO2 emissions and meet the ambitious sustainable development goals that we have set for the airline. At ANA, we seek innovative solutions to the most pressing problems, and we will continue looking for ways to reduce our ecological impact in order to create a better world, said Akihiko Miura, Executive Vice President of ANA.
Roll-out SAF production
In 2018, ANA signed a partnership agreement with Mitsui & Co., Ltd. to jointly develop a SAF manufacturing business that utilizes LanzaTech’s innovative catalytic technology. Mitsui strategically invested in LanzaTech already in 2014, positioning it as a Business Innovation Project.
As a strategic investor in LanzaTech, Mitsui has “continued efforts” to advance the development of joint business between the two companies, and in the future hopes to mass produce SAF from waste gas-derived ethanol, and establish a value chain that that reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and contributes to global environmental preservation through its supply to Japan and other markets around the world.
Novel waste-gas to SAF process
LanzaTech has developed the world’s only gas fermentation technology, which it uses to convert waste gas emissions of steel plants and oil refineries into ethanol, and has already launched operations of a commercial plant in China which uses this technology.
In addition, the company has also established catalyst technology, developed in collaboration with the US national laboratory Pacific Northwest National Labs (PNNL) to produce SAF from ethanol, the “alcohol-to-jet” (ATJ) pathway.
As part of the 2018 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Mitsui and ANA plan to implement “these exciting breakthroughs” by jointly conducting a delivery flight of a newly built aircraft from the United States (US) to Japan in fall 2019 using SAF produced by LanzaTech.
As ANA increases its global presence, the airline is working to ensure that it maintains its reputation for global leadership on issues of sustainability. This led the airline to conduct a comprehensive search for the most efficient sustainable aviation fuel, selecting LanzaTech’s unique product for its flexibility and high energy density.
ANA says that by working with LanzaTech to implement SAF, the company hopes to enhance the quality of fuel used in its aircraft while also meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of its efforts to become “most eco-friendly airline group in the world”.
