Swedish partnership to explore synthetic sustainable aviation fuel production

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A new partnership between Vattenfall, SAS, Shell and LanzaTech is to investigate the large-scale production of synthetic sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Sweden.

The partnership's goal, should investment go ahead, is for a new production facility to make up to 50,000 tonnes of synthetic SAF annually. 

Also known as "electrofuel", the synthetic SAF will be made with fossil-free energy and carbon dioxide recycled from district heating and using the LanzaJet "Alcohol to Jet" technology, which was developed through a collaboration between LanzaTech and the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Read more: Scientists make carbon neutral fuel out of air and sunlight

When full production capacity is reached, the facility could provide SAS, Scandinavia's flag carrier airline, with as much as 25% of its projected demand for SAF in the 2030s.

A joint study has already been conducted, which found promising conditions for the project, and the partners are now carrying out in-depth analyses. The aim is to commission the new production facility sometime between 2026 and 2027 at a site near Forsmark on Sweden's east coast.

"This initiative shows the potential of cross-industry partnerships to drive the decarbonisation of a hard-to-abate sector. To innovate faster in order to bridge to a fossil-free living within one generation. This is a really good opportunity and together we will explore further how to produce low emission electrofuel for aviation," said Anna Borg, President and CEO, Vattenfall.

"The aviation sector faces incredible challenges getting the volumes of SAF needed for sustainable flight. This project is the start of delivering on these volumes and by reusing carbon dioxide and fossil-free power we have an opportunity for unprecedented scale. We need to rethink carbon and together with fossil-free power, harness it to create a new climate-safe future for all," added Jennifer Holmgren, CEO LanzaTech.

The project is looking to kickstart electrofuel production in Sweden. The companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding and agreed on the roles that each company will play.

Swedish state-owned energy company Vattenfall will investigate fossil-free electricity supply, hydrogen production and carbon dioxide recovery. Oil giant Shell will investigate fuel production, logistics and be the electrofuel buyer. Illinois-based biotech firm LanzaTech will provide its gas fermentation expertise to make ethanol from the input gas streams and parties will then licence the LanzaJet “Alcohol to Jet” technology to convert that ethanol to electrofuel. SAS will participate as a potential buyer of the electrofuel.

Read more: TotalEnergies & Safran aim to cut CO2 emissions in aviation

Anna Mascolo, President of Shell Aviation, said: "Sustainable aviation fuel offers the greatest potential to reduce emissions from aviation. It is only by working together today across the aviation ecosystem to drive the technologies and infrastructure needed to produce SAF at scale that the aviation sector can achieve net-zero by 2050. This is why I am excited for this collaboration to explore one more pathway for SAF production."

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