Twelve has launched AirPlant One in Washington state, the world's first commercial scale facility that captures carbon dioxide directly from the air and converts it into synthetic fuels. The plant produces e sustainable aviation fuel (e SAF) and e naphtha using only captured CO2, water, and renewable electricity, bypassing biological feedstocks entirely. Alaska Airlines has contracted the e SAF for domestic flights, and Microsoft is using a book and claim model to support the fuel's scale up. This facility marks a milestone for power to liquid technology and direct air capture based fuel production. It demonstrates that synthetic hydrocarbons can be made without fossil feedstocks or agricultural land, though questions remain about cost per liter and the energy intensity of the process. The project provides a real world test case for how e fuels might fit into aviation decarbonization and broader carbon removal strategies.
