Microsoft invests $50 million in LanzaJet

LanzaJet, a sustainable fuels technology company and renewable fuels producer, announced Jan. 13 it has secured financing for its Freedom Pines Fuels plant in Soperton, Georgia, through the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund. MCIF has made a $50 million investment to support the construction of LanzaJet’s first alcohol-to-jet sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production plant. The innovative structure of Microsoft’s financing will enable LanzaJet to bring lower-cost SAF and renewable diesel to the global market.

The investment also creates the opportunity for LanzaJet and MCIF to work together in enabling LanzaJet, through the Freedom Pines Fuels plant, to catalyze the market for second-generation, waste-based ethanol feedstock, demonstrating clear demand signals for ethanol that can achieve greater carbon reductions.

The construction of Freedom Pines Fuels is progressing as planned, even with supply-chain, manufacturing, and labor shortages impacting the global economy. Fabrication of the plant is well underway. Some modules are already completed and final site engineering is nearing completion. The LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels plant is expected to achieve mechanical completion this year and begin producing 10 million gallons of SAF and renewable diesel per year from ethanol in 2023.

The investment was made as part of Microsoft’s efforts to achieve its 2030 goal of becoming carbon negative and advancing a net-zero economy. It also allows Microsoft to access sustainable, renewable diesel for its data centers to enable Microsoft to further achieve its net-zero goals.

The development of LanzaJet’s Freedom Pines Fuels plant is also supported by funding from the U.S. DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office.

Microsoft’s financial support of LanzaJet joins other LanzaJet funders including LanzaTech Inc., Suncor Energy Inc., Mitsui & Co. Ltd., British Airways, Shell, and All Nippon Airways.

“The partnership with Microsoft is more than just financing,” said Jimmy Samartzis, LanzaJet CEO. “It advances our work towards net-zero fuels, it enables lower-cost sustainable fuels into the market, and it supports the urgency to have real, proven technologies scale-up and deploy.”

Brandon Middaugh of MCIF added, “With this investment, we support LanzaJet in creating new pathways to help companies across industries achieve net-zero carbon through the use of sustainable fuels. Decarbonizing hard to abate industries and technologies will be essential to achieving our carbon reduction goals by 2030.”