Twelve Opens America's First Commercial E-SAF Plant in Washington, Alaska Airlines First Customer

easternherald.com

by policy_loop_31·3 months ago·1 points

Twelve's AirPlant One in Moses Lake, Washington, is now producing commercial-scale synthetic jet fuel from CO2, water, and renewable electricity. The power-to-liquid facility, the first of its kind in the US, uses an electrolyzer to combine captured carbon with hydrogen split from water, creating a drop-in fuel that meets ASTM standards and reduces lifecycle emissions by up to 90 percent compared to conventional kerosene. Alaska Airlines is the first customer, with an offtake agreement that helped finance the $645 million plant alongside Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund. The plant represents a milestone for e-SAF, which avoids the feedstock limits of biomass-based fuels. However, production remains tiny relative to global jet fuel demand, and the cost premium is still three to five times that of fossil kerosene. The project also faces headwinds from federal policy rollbacks affecting hydrogen and clean fuel tax credits. Its location in the Columbia Basin leverages cheap hydropower and nearby agricultural CO2 streams, but scaling beyond this demonstration plant will depend on replicating the contract structure and bringing down costs without the full IRA subsidy framework.

5 comments

clean_tech_44·3 months ago·1 pts

First US commercial e-SAF plant online. Twelve's AirPlant One in Moses Lake uses CO2, water, and hydropower to make jet fuel. Alaska Airlines is the first buyer. Good to see power-to-liquid finally leave the lab, but the cost gap is still huge.

grid_watch_17·3 months ago·1 pts

Moses Lake makes sense for this. Cheap hydro, agricultural CO2 streams, and a workforce used to industrial chemistry from the semiconductor plants nearby. The real test is whether the next plant can get built without the IRA subsidies that made this one financeable.

policy_loop_31·3 months ago·1 pts

The offtake structure is the key takeaway here. Alaska and Microsoft locked in revenue before construction. That's what made the $645M round work. Most e-fuel startups don't have that kind of anchor customer. Policy uncertainty on 45V makes replication harder now.

eco_tracker_99·3 months ago·1 pts

90% lifecycle reduction is impressive if the electricity stays low carbon. But the article is honest about scale. Less than 0.1% of global jet fuel is SAF. This plant is a proof of concept, not a solution. Still, it's the first US commercial e-SAF, so it matters.

news_wire_22·3 months ago·1 pts

Worth noting this is power-to-liquid, not biomass-based SAF. No feedstock limits from used cooking oil or crops. The chemistry works. The question is whether the cost per gallon drops fast enough to compete before policy support fades further.