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United Airlines

United Airlines' new partnership could power 50,000 flights with sustainable aviation fuel

Zach Wichter
USA TODAY

United Airlines announced a new joint venture agreement with two biofuel companies Tuesday, saying that it expects the partnership to produce enough sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to power 50,000 flights between Chicago and Denver per year by 2028.

The Blue Blade Energy project is a joint venture with Tallgrass and Green Plains, Inc., and will focus on producing ethanol-based aviation fuel.

"The magnitude of this deal and the volume of SAF that it could bring online in this decade dwarfs everything else," United Airlines Ventures president Michael Leskinen told USA TODAY.

Testing of the specific SAF technology is expected to begin next year, with a full-scale production facility planned to come online in 2028, pending the success of that pilot.

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"The production and use of SAF is the most effective and scalable tool the airline industry has to reduce carbon emissions and United continues to lead the way," Leskinen said in a statement. "This new joint venture includes two expert collaborators that have the experience to construct and operate large-scale infrastructure, as well as the feedstock supply necessary for success."

A United Airlines plane taxis at Newark International Airport, in New Jersey, on Jan. 11, 2023.

What is sustainable aviation fuel?

That can be a complicated-to-answer question, but in the most general terms, SAF is a way of powering airplanes that is more eco-friendly than traditional petroleum-based jet fuel. There are different ways of producing SAF, and although they all emit greenhouse gasses during flight, the production process is usually more environmentally sustainable than drilling for oil. 

Check out USA TODAY's full explainer on what SAF is and how it works.

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When can I fly a sustainable United Airlines flight? 

United Airlines' goal is to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and Leskinen said ethanol-based jet fuels are a key step toward that milestone, helped in part by the rising availability of electric vehicles, which will free up ethanol stock for other purposes.

"As quickly as the ground transportation fleet electrifies, that creates an abundance of ethanol that can power this transformation," he said. "There is a ton of ethanol in the world that could be converted, and we think improvements in technology mean it could be really economically converted."

Leskinen estimates that improvements in technology, along with the increased availability, mean that ethanol-based jet fuels could one day fill 30-40% of global supply needs for airlines.

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But it won't happen all at once. Blue Blade Energy won't be fully operational until 2028 if things stay on schedule, and the SAF it produces will only be used as part of a blend with traditional jet fuels on flights out of Chicago and Denver at first.

Leskinen told USA TODAY that the airline is investing in other companies that are experimenting with technologies that would allow biofuels to power flights without needing to blend with traditional jet fuels. 

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