Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund makes another investment in LanzaJet to support continued company growth

LanzaJet announced April 22 an investment from Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund.

This investment from Microsoft enables LanzaJet to continue building its capability and capacity to deploy its sustainable fuels process technology globally.

In addition, LanzaJet and Microsoft intend to explore how Microsoft can supply its data and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to improve LanzaJet’s corporate functions and ethanol to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) process technology. 

This investment in LanzaJet follows a $50 million project-finance investment from Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund in 2022 to support the construction of LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels in Soperton, Georgia, the world’s first ethanol-to-SAF production plant, which opened this January.

LanzaJet said April 22 that its Freedom Pines Fuels will begin annual production of 10 million gallons of SAF and renewable diesel this quarter. 

“Our continued alignment with Microsoft allows LanzaJet to build our team and capability at pace to support global deployment of our leading sustainable fuels process technology,” said LanzaJet CEO Jimmy Samartzis. ​

“Through its support of LanzaJet’s first-of-a-kind ethanol-to-SAF biorefinery, LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels, Microsoft has played a significant role in making SAF production a reality in the United States, and this investment reemphasizes its urgent commitment to decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors,” Samartzis said.

Microsoft’s investment in LanzaJet enables it to gain access to sustainable fuels—SAF and renewable diesel—as well as SAF certificates (SAFc) from future LanzaJet projects.

Access to these products will help Microsoft on the path to becoming carbon negative by 2030.

“Microsoft is proud to support LanzaJet with our investment in the growth of its sustainable fuel technology business,” said Brandon Middaugh, the senior director of Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund. ​

“Microsoft is investing in partners who share our commitment to advancing a net-zero economy and who are building the market for critical solutions like SAF and renewable diesel,” Middaugh added.  

In addition to Microsoft, LanzaJet’s portfolio of investors and funders includes All Nippon Airways, Breakthrough Energy, British Airways, LanzaTech, Mitsui & Co., Shell, Southwest Airlines and Suncor Energy.