Airline looks to turn CO2 removed
from the atmosphere into sustainable aviation fuel
United has invested in more future SAF
production than any other airline in the world 1
CHICAGO, March 29,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- United today announced its
$5 million investment in carbon
capture technology company Svante, who 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.1
"Carbon capture technology has
the potential to be a critical solution in the fight to stop
climate change and has the added benefit of helping us scale the
production of SAF," said United CEO Scott
Kirby. "And at United we're building on that approach by
investing in both companies that can capture CO2 and
others that can turn it into fuel. There's no question that this
carbon utilization is in its infancy today, but as a leader in
sustainable flying we must help build the foundation to deploy this
technology of the future as expediently as possible. This is truly
a global imperative, and United's investment in Svante reflects our
dedication to making sustainable travel a reality."
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.
"We are pleased to have the support of United Airlines as one of
our world-class investors," said Claude
Letourneau, Svante's President & CEO. "The airline
industry has a huge opportunity to make a big impact on global
decarbonization – battling climate change through the transition to
sustainable aviation fuels and other innovative technologies that
will help the world achieve net zero. Their investment in companies
like ours will aid in accelerating the commercialization of carbon
capture and removal technology."
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 anticipated to produce enough
filter modules to capture millions of tons of carbon dioxide per
year across hundreds of large-scale carbon capture
facilities.
"It's great to see United's commitment to building an ecosystem
for carbon dioxide (CO2) to Sustainable Aviation Fuel
(SAF) manifest through this significant investment in Svante," said
Jason Salfi, Dimensional Energy's
CEO. "The teams at Svante and Dimensional Energy are working
together to design integrated systems for captured
CO2 to SAF today. There is enough
CO2 in the atmosphere and in industrial process
emissions to provide all of the carbon necessary for the fuels and
products people use every day now and into the future. Svante
provides the first step toward a circular carbon economy."
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 FundSM, United
has launched a SAF purchasing program called the Eco-Skies
Alliance and established a venture fund - United Airlines
Ventures - to identify and invest in companies and
technologies that can decarbonize air travel. These strategic
investments include carbon capture, hydrogen-electric
engines, electric regional
aircraft and air taxis.
About United
United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the
World." From our U.S. hubs
in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los
Angeles, New York/Newark, San
Francisco and Washington, D.C., United operates the most
comprehensive global route network among North American carriers.
United is bringing back our customers' favorite destinations and
adding new ones on its way to becoming the world's best airline.
For more about how to join the United team, please
visit www.united.com/careers and more information about
the company is at www.united.com. United Airlines Holdings,
Inc., the parent company of United Airlines, Inc., is traded on the
Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL". For further information about our
environmental impact, review United's Corporate Responsibility
Report and Annual Report on Form 10-K, available at
crreport.united.com and ir.united.com.
About Svante
Svante offers companies in emission-intensive industries a
commercially viable way to capture large-scale CO2 emissions from
existing infrastructure, either for safe storage or to be used for
further industrial use in a closed loop. With the ability to
capture CO2 from industrial sources and directly from the
atmosphere in an environmentally sustainable way, Svante makes
industrial-scale carbon capture and removal a reality. The company
is on the 2023 Global Cleantech 100, and was ranked
second among private companies in the Corporate Knights Future
50 Fastest-Growing Sustainable Companies in Canada. Svante's Board of Directors
includes Nobel Laureate and former Secretary of Energy,
Steven Chu. To learn more about
Svante, click here or visit Svante's website at www.svanteinc.com,
or follow Svante
on LinkedIn or Twitter @svantesolutions.
United Cautionary Statement Regarding
Forward-Looking Statements and Other Important Information
This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995 relating to, among other things, plans and projections
regarding the company's environmental, social and governance (ESG)
goals, targets, commitments, strategies and initiatives and related
business and stakeholder impacts. All statements that are not
statements of historical facts are, or may be deemed to be,
forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are
based on historical performance and current expectations,
estimates, forecasts and projections about our future financial
results, plans, objectives, goals, targets, commitments, strategies
and initiatives and involve inherent risks, assumptions and
uncertainties, known or unknown, including internal or external
factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, that are
difficult to predict, may be beyond our control and could cause our
future financial results, plans, objectives, goals, targets,
commitments, strategies and initiatives to differ materially from
those expressed in, or implied by, the statements. These risks,
assumptions, uncertainties and other factors include, among others,
any failure to meet stated ESG goals, targets, commitments,
strategies and initiatives in the time frame expected or at all as
a result of many factors, including changing societal, market,
competitive, regulatory or stakeholder expectations, and any delay
or failure of any technology to be fully developed or become
functional or marketable or to serve the purpose for which it was
designed. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed.
Forward-looking statements in this press release should be
evaluated together with the many risks and uncertainties that
affect United's business and market, particularly those identified
in the "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations" and "Risk Factors" sections in United's
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, as updated by our subsequent
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and
other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Risks
and uncertainties related to United's environmental compliance,
climate commitments and climate strategy are further described in
Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors of United's Annual Report on Form
10-K for the fiscal year ended December
31, 2022—"We are subject to many forms of environmental
regulation and liability and risks associated with climate change
and may incur substantial costs as a result. In addition, failure
to achieve or demonstrate progress towards our climate goals may
expose us to liability and reputational harm."
The statements included in this press release are made only as
of the date of this press release and except as otherwise required
by applicable law or regulation, United Airlines undertakes no
obligation to publicly update or revise any statement, whether as a
result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or
otherwise. In particular, United Airlines reserves the right to
change, amend, supplement or abandon some or all of the statements
regarding goals, targets, commitments, strategies, initiatives,
intentions and other statements from time to time without
notice.
In addition, some of our disclosures in this press release are
estimates or based on assumptions due to inherent measurement
uncertainties. For example, United's statement that it has already
invested in the future production of more than three billion
gallons of SAF – the most of any airline in the world is based on
publicly announced future purchase agreements for SAF of certain
airlines as of the date hereof.
1 Based on publicly announced airline offtake
agreements for future purchases of SAF
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SOURCE United Airlines