Deal accelerates the scale-up of e-SAF, jet fuel produced using power-to-liquid technology that converts CO2, water and renewable energy into fuel that has up to 90% lower emissions than conventional jet fuel.
The International Airlines Group (IAG) and Twelve have announced a historic Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) purchase agreement for e-SAF made using Twelve's power-to-liquid process. Under the terms of the fourteen-year contract, Twelve will supply IAG with 785,000 tonnes* of e-SAF to support the five European airlines (British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling, and LEVEL) under the IAG umbrella. This next-generation fuel will reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90% compared to conventional jet fuel.
The two companies first began partnering in 2020, when Twelve joined IAG’s Hangar 51 start-up accelerator program to commercialize Twelve’s technology.
This deal is the largest e-SAF commitment announced by any European airline Group, which earned IAG and Twelve an award for ‘SAF Offtake Agreement of the Year’, at the SAF Investor Conference and Awards, in London on February 27, 2024.
Pioneering the Power-to-Liquid Revolution
Twelve is pioneering the power-to-liquid revolution with a patented proprietary process that produces high-quality synthetic fuels from CO2, renewable electricity, and water. Twelve broke ground on it's first E-Jet® fuel production plant in Moses Lake, Washington in mid-2023.
Local and state administrations have been extraordinary partners to Twelve. The recent House Bill 5447, sponsored and championed by Senator Billig and signed by Governor Inslee, which seeks to promote and incentivize the production and use of sustainable aviation fuel in Washington state, created a significant tailwind for SAF producers like Twelve. It is through these and other bold and thoughtful state policies that Twelve has recognized that Washington state is the best place in which to develop and operate its first E-Jet fuel facility.
Nicholas Flanders, Twelve’s co-founder and CEO said: "We are proud to partner with IAG on this historic deal to advance sustainable aviation with our e-SAF that has up to 90% lower emissions than conventional jet fuel. Because we make our power-to-liquid E-Jet fuel from CO2, it offers industry-leading emissions reduction potential with the added benefits of an abundant feedstock supply, and significantly smaller land and water footprints compared to alternative SAF pathways."
We are proud to partner with IAG on this historic deal to advance sustainable aviation with our e-SAF that has up to 90% lower emissions than conventional jet fuel.
The Power-to-Liquid Advantage
The Power-to-Liquid (PtL) pathway, also sometimes called synthetic fuels, E-Fuels, or Power-to-X, does not use direct organic compounds as feedstocks like other pathways and is therefore not a biofuel. Instead, this pathway uses direct CO2, renewable electricity, and clean hydrogen as feedstocks. These feedstocks combine to create syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide (CO). The syngas is then put through a conversion step, such as Fischer-Tropsch, methanol synthesis, or gas fermentation, to produce liquid products that can then be upgraded to the appropriate C8-C16 hydrocarbon chain lengths to make SAF.
PtL fuels are not biofuels and are not bound to the same dynamic of waste versus dedicated feedstock. PtL fuels use captured CO2 that is either a waste product from industrial processes or directly out of the air, has few emissions, and is in virtually unlimited supply. Instead, the carbon intensity of PtL fuels is driven by the electricity source used for processing. Fuel production that relies on electricity as a main feedstock is as clean as the electricity source used. As long as renewable electricity is used with biogenic or DAC CO2, PtL fuels can have up to 90% emissions reduction over fossil fuels.
▶︎ Learn more from our latest report Know Your SAF: Guide to Sustainable Aviation Fuels
*The agreement is for 260 million gallons, which is approximately 785,000 tonnes, or 984 million
litres.
** Based on IATA’s latest figures for SAF production in 2023.