LanzaTech, Tadweer initiate waste-to-SAF feasibility study

LanzaTech and Tadweer forecast that up to 350,000 metric tons of hard-to-recycle municipal and commercial solid waste can be transformed into 200,000 tons of ethanol per year, ultimately producing 120,000 tons of SAF annually.

Carbon-recycling company LanzaTech Global Inc. and Tadweer (Abu Dhabi Waste Management Company), the sole custodian of waste management for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, announced Dec. 12 that they have joined forces to initiate an integrated waste-to-SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) feasibility study to scale SAF production from municipal and commercial solid waste.

This is the first major project in LanzaTech and Tadweer’s partnership announced early this year and forecasts that up to 350,000 metric tons of hard-to-recycle municipal and commercial solid waste can be transformed into 200,000 tons of ethanol per year, ultimately producing 120,000 tons of SAF annually.

“The waste-management industry has the potential to reduce almost 1.8 gigatons of emitted CO2 per year, an indicator of its critical role in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions,” said Ali Al Dhaheri, the managing director and CEO of Tadweer. “We look forward to working closely with LanzaTech on developing a waste-to-SAF solution, which strengthens our efforts to implement a sustainable waste-management system in the Emirate. This builds on our vision of becoming an international model for a circular economy.”

LanzaTech CEO Jennifer Holmgren added, “Recycling municipal solid waste, rather than letting it pile up in landfills, offers incredible potential to produce sustainable aviation fuel at scale and reduce air travel’s carbon footprint. This solution creates an alternative, lower-carbon supply chain. With LanzaTech’s technology in Tadweer’s facilities, this project is an opportunity to address the climate crisis on two fronts simultaneously and keep virgin fossil fuels in the ground.”

Majed Al Marzouqi, serving as project manager of the waste-to-SAF project under Tadweer, emphasized the project’s key role in contributing to the UAE’s National SAF Road Map.

He underscored that the project aims to sustainably recover solid waste to produce SAF fuel, aligning with global environmental lifecycle-assessment (LCA) standards.

The project not only advances the UAE’s position in sustainable SAF production but also demonstrates a commitment to aligning with international environmental standards.

The facility will work by transforming solid waste streams into a synthesis gas consisting of CO, CO2 and H2 via a gasification unit licensed by sustainable technology solutions provider NextChem, part of Maire Group.

The gas stream is then transformed by LanzaTech’s microbe-powered bioreactor into CarbonSmart™ ethanol.

The ethanol will then be converted to SAF by LanzaJet, a separate company spun out of LanzaTech, focused on commercializing SAF.

LanzaJet’s alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) technology is a leading and versatile platform enabling the production of SAF from a wide range of feedstocks.

LanzaJet is completing the construction of the world’s first ATJ plant in Soperton, Georgia.

The LanzaJet ATJ technology is a proven, efficient and ASTM-approved pathway to produce sustainable fuels, reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 85 percent and particulate emissions by over 95 percent when compared to the typical Jet A-1 commercial aviation fuel.

The LanzaJet ATJ technology is a culmination of over a decade of collaboration between LanzaTech, the U.S. DOE and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.