Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) technology and production company LanzaJet today announced an investment from Tokyo-based banking group Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG). The investment is part of LanzaJet’s current $100 million growth equity funding round, aimed at enabling the company to continue scaling its ethanol-to-SAF technology.

Launched in 2020 by carbon recycling technology company LanzaTech, Illinois-based LanzaJet has developed “Alcohol-to-Jet” technology enabling the creation of SAF and renewable diesel from waste-based and sustainable ethanol sources including feedstocks such as low-carbon sugarcane, energy crops, forest residuals, agricultural wastes, and organic waste.

The new investment follows the startup by LanzaJet earlier this year of what the company says is the first-ever commercial-scale ethanol-to-SAF plant, LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels in Soperton, Georgia, with annual production of 10 million gallons of SAF and renewable diesel. LanzaJet said that Freedom Pines will serve as a blueprint for its technology to scale SAF production, as the company targets reaching 1 billion gallons of SAF production by 2030.

Jimmy Samartzis, Chief Executive Officer of LanzaJet said:

“We continue to build a leading team of investors along the SAF value chain who believe in LanzaJet’s ability to decarbonize aviation, which will both address climate change and enable the global economy. The investment from MUFG further enables LanzaJet’s efforts to scale SAF production, with one of the world’s leading financial groups enabling the development of infrastructure globally.”

The announcement marks the latest in a series of investments in the LanzaJet, including recent investments by airport operator Groupe ADP, Microsoft and Southwest Airlines. Additional investors in the company include All Nippon Airways, Breakthrough Energy, British Airways, LanzaTech, Mitsui & Co., Shell, and Suncor Energy.

MUFG’s investment follows an April announcement of the company’s planned sustainability-related initiatives, including nearly tripling its 2030 sustainable finance goal to 100 trillion yen (USD$660 billion) from its prior 35 trillion yen target.

Koichiro Oshima, Managing Executive Officer, Head of Financial Solutions Group, MUFG Bank, Ltd., said:

“MUFG is deeply committed to redefining the future of finance by prioritizing innovative and sustainable industry solutions. Our strategic support for LanzaJet is a prime example of this commitment, signifying our belief in the critical role of sustainable fuels for the economic and environmental well-being of the businesses we serve.”