CleanJoule, a US start-up, has recently received a $50 million investment to progress its Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) technology. This injection of money comes from several sources, which include major airlines, private equity firms, and various investment funds.
Indigo Partners, a U.S.-based private equity firm, took the lead in the investment round and will take a seat on CleanJoule's board. GenZero, a Singapore-based investment platform, and Cleanhill Partners, another U.S.-based private equity firm, also contributed to the investment.
The investment round included the participation of three airlines: WizzAir (Europe), Frontier Airlines (USA), and Volaris (Mexico). As part of the deal, these companies have agreed to purchase a maximum of 90 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from CleanJoule.
CleanJoule has claimed to create "high performance" Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from different biomass sources around the globe, such as wheat, barley, oats, rice, corn, sugarcane, soybean and cotton. The company highlighted that this investment is a "significant part" of its mission to reduce emissions and contribute towards the aviation sector's climate action objectives.
Dr Mukund Karanjikar, co-founder and CEO of CleanJoule, emphasized the importance of pushing forward with viable, sustainable fuel alternatives. He stated that CleanJoule is well-equipped to increase the availability of SAFs and make the transition to a more eco-friendly aviation industry faster.
CleanJoule asserted that, based on the feedstock and technologies employed in its creation, Sustainable Aviation Fuel could drastically reduce life cycle greenhouse gas emissions from aviation compared to traditional jet fuel.
Bill Franke, a managing director of Indigo Partners, has stated that the organization and its airline portfolio are devoted to reducing the carbon footprints of air transportation. Through the investment in CleanJoule, Franke believes the availability of SAF to the industry will be increased. He cites the company's development of revolutionary technology to convert widely-available feedstocks into SAF with remarkable proficiency, noting that CleanJoule will be a significant contributor to the aviation industry's decarbonization puzzle.
Recent progress in using Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) as a lower-carbon alternative to regular fossil fuels in the aviation industry has led to the recent declaration.
Nevertheless, those who oppose using SAF have cautioned that it is improbable that we will have enough renewable sources to produce enough SAF to make global flight carbon-free. Today, research conducted by Transport & Environment (T&E) has requested more openness from the aviation sector regarding the sources and feedstocks used to make the SAF.
Qatar Airways revealed that it had reached a "multi-million US dollar agreement" with Shell to provide 3,000 metric tonnes of SAF annually for fueling its aircraft at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.
The airline anticipates that beginning in 2023-24, at least five per cent of the fuel for its flights from the airport will be Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), blended with approximately 95 per cent conventional kerosene.
Qatar Airways predicted that their flights departing from Amsterdam would reduce their emissions by an estimated 7,500 tonnes over the following year.
The Group CEO of Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker, declared that the organization is still devoted to its goal of 10 per cent SAF use by 2030. He also accentuated the significance of the industry's collaboration in boosting the supply of SAF. Al Baker pointed out that SAF is still much pricier than jet fuel derived from fossil fuels; thus, all stakeholders need to contribute to the research and development of SAF, enhancing cost efficiency, providing financing and establishing supportive policies..