Australia’s Wagner Sustainable Fuels has initiated a feasibility study to equip its planned Brisbane sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) refinery. The company is favoring the application of CirculAir, a technology developed by LanzaTech Global and its LanzaJet subsidiary that converts waste feedstocks into SAF.
CirculAir uses LanzaTech’s carbon recycling technology to convert locally sourced feedstocks including industrial emissions and municipal solid waste into ethanol, which is then transformed into SAF via LanzaJet’s alcohol-to-jet process.
Supported by Boeing and the Queensland government, the project is viewed as a source of new jobs in the region while increasing Australia’s domestic energy security and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from aviation.
“LanzaTech and LanzaJet look forward to providing a joint commercial solution to support the work of Wagner Sustainable Fuels and advance the development of a domestic Australian SAF market,” said LanzaTech CEO and LanzaJet board chair Jennifer Holmgren. “There is enough carbon above ground to transform the 100 billion gallons of fossil fuel-derived jet fuel consumed each year into reliable jet fuel made by recycled carbon, and the flexibility of the CirculAir technology makes it possible for this project to unlock the myriad waste-based resources required to meet that demand.”
The feasibility study is expected to conclude by the end of the year, and Wagner expects to begin construction on the project—which is expected to produce 27 million gallons of SAF a year—in 2026.