SAF: United Invests $5 Million in Carbon Capture Company Svante

United has announced its $5 million investment in carbon capture technology company Svante, which provides materials and technology as part of the value chain that has the potential to convert CO2 removed from the atmosphere and from industrial emission sources into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

This is the latest announced investment from the new UAV Sustainable Flight FundSM, a first-of-its-kind investment vehicle that is designed to leverage support from cross-industry businesses in order to support start-ups focused on decarbonizing air travel through SAF research, technology and production.

The airline aims to be 100% green by reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 100% by 2050, without relying on traditional carbon offsets. To date, United has invested in the future production of over three billion gallons of SAF - the most of any airline in the world.

This investment was made as part of Svante's Series E financing round and will fund and support Svante's commercial-scale filter manufacturing facility in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Svante is working with world-leading organizations around the world, including Dimensional Energy, a carbon utilization – CO2 to jet fuel – company that United Airlines Ventures invested in last year.

Svante is a leader in second generation solid sorbent-based carbon capture and removal. The company's scalable, eco-friendly, and commercially available carbon capture and removal technology employs structured absorbent beds, known as filters.

These filters can capture 95% of CO2 emissions from industrial sites as well as CO2 that's already in the air. Once the CO2 is captured, it is concentrated and can be used in the creation of SAF or other products. It can also be safely transported and stored underground.

Svante's manufacturing facility is expected to produce enough filter modules to capture millions of tons of carbon dioxide per year across hundreds of large-scale carbon capture facilities. 

SAF is an alternative to conventional jet fuel that, on a lifecycle basis, reduces GHG emissions associated with air travel compared to conventional jet fuel alone. SAF is made from used cooking oil and agricultural waste, and, in the future, could be made from other feedstocks, including household trash, forest waste, or compressed CO2, the end product of Svante's carbon capture process.

The Federal Government Recognizes the Value of SAF

The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act includes the largest governmental climate change investments in U.S. history -- a new blended tax credit specifically for SAF along with other critical incentives for clean energy and carbon capture – that will help spur an increase in SAF infrastructure and supply while lowering costs for SAF consumers.

The U.S. military currently uses nearly five billion gallons of jet fuel annually and the Department of Defense will use a jet fuel blend containing at least 10% SAF by 2028 because of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.

And according to the U.S. Department of Energy, the country's vast feedstock resources are enough to meet the projected SAF demand of the entire U.S. aviation industry.

United's Commitment to Net-Zero Emissions by 2050

United was the first airline to commit to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, without relying on traditional carbon offsets.

In addition to the UAV Sustainable Flight Fund, United has launched a SAF purchasing program called the Eco-Skies Alliance and established United Airlines Ventures to identify and invest in companies and technologies that can decarbonize air travel. These investments include carbon capture, hydrogen-electric engines, electric regional aircraft and air taxis.