LanzaJet building second US SAF plant alongside Marquis Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Illinois-based sustainable fuels technology and production company LanzaJet is partnering with fellow Illinois-based Marquis Sustainable Aviation Fuel to construct a new, 120-million-gallon capacity integrated sustainable fuels plant in Hennepin, Ill., about 115 miles southwest of Chicago.

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) produced at the plant will be piped to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and Chicago Midway Airport (MDW), the companies said in today’s announcement. The plant will be constructed on a 2,500-acre industrial site at the Marquis Industrial Complex. The site is next to the Illinois River and connects with a railroad line and multiple interstate highways, allowing for various transportation options.

The plant’s design calls for the use of low-carbon intensity (CI) feedstocks for the production of both SAF and renewable diesel, under LanzaJet’s alcohol-to-jet production process. Marquis had previously announced its goal for the site to be the world’s first carbon-neutral industrial complex, with plans for on-site carbon capture and injection. In keeping with that goal, the new plant will utilize renewable energy for the production process and employ on-site carbon capture and sequestration, according to the release.

The new site in partnership with Marquis is LanzaJet’s second SAF project to be announced recently. In January, the company secured $50 million in financing from the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund in support of its alcohol-to-jet SAF plant in Soperton, Ga., and expects to begin production of 10 million gallons of SAF and renewable diesel per year in 2023.

It is unclear whether the companies secured additional funding for the Illinois plant, and they could not be reached ahead of publication. LanzaJet and Marquis expect to begin engineering work for the Illinois plant this year.

SAF production and utilization is still mostly insignificant compared with conventional fuels, and while there are several plants planned for the U.S., current sites from Fulcrum BioEnergy in Nevada and World Energy in California produce fewer than 40 million gallons per year combined. A RedRock Biofuels plant planned for Oregon, meanwhile, is now on hold until 2023, according to local media.