Southwest Airlines announced on Wednesday the establishment of its new subsidiary, Southwest Airlines Renewable Ventures or SARV. The venture's objective is to broaden the airline's accessibility to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) sources.
The airline plans to partner with various SAF manufacturers to secure SAF offtake contracts. Moreover, SARV will oversee Southwest's investments related to SAF, including its equity investment in SAFFiRE Renewables, a biofuel company.
Through this initiative, Southwest aims to replace 10% of its jet fuel usage with SAF by 2030, aligning with its commitments towards sustainable operations.
In addition, Southwest revealed an investment of $30 million in LanzaJet, Inc., a leading SAF technology provider renowned for its pioneering ethanol-to-SAF conversion technology. This investment is part of SARV's portfolio.
In collaboration with Southwest, LanzaJet aims to build a facility specialized in ethanol-to-SAF conversion that will primarily cater to the airline's SAF needs. The new facility will have the potential to transform SAFFiRE's cellulosic ethanol into SAF, contributing to an increase in SAF production in the long run.
