Private jet company buys stake in SAF project developer

Photo: WasteFuel

Private jet firm NetJets, a Berkshire Hathaway company, has invested in WasteFuel, a company that plans to convert 1 million tons a year of landfill waste into 30 MMgy of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Manila, Philippines. In addition to the “significant” investment in WasteFuel, NetJets has also committed to buying a minimum of 100 million gallons of WasteFuel’s SAF over the next 10 years. The SAF is expected to be sent to Los Angeles and distributed across NetJets’ network.

Infrastructure developer Prime Infra is also partnering on the project. The plant, now in early stages of development, is expected to open in 2025.

“The biorefinery tackles the dual environmental problems of the global waste crisis and sustainable fuel,” said Brad Ferrell, executive vice president of administrative services for NetJets. “We’re excited to take this step toward improving accessibility to SAF in the aviation industry.”

WasteFuel’s SAF has a carbon intensity of zero, according to the company, compared to a baseline of 89.4 for traditional jet fuel.

WasteFuel notes that, globally, landfills are the third-largest source of methane produced by human activity, accounting for 11 percent of estimated global methane emissions, a greenhouse gas that is an exponentially more powerful climate change agent than carbon dioxide.

“Our waste can be our fuel,” said Trevor Neilson, chairman and CEO of WasteFuel. “Our partnership with NetJets and Prime Infra marks the beginning of a bold new era in travel—the beginning of the hard work of making aviation truly sustainable.”

According to Guillaume Lucci, president of Prime Infra, Manila generates 10,000 tons of garbage a day. “A biorefinery that will convert solid waste into SAF will make a big impact in reducing solid waste and ensuing environmental and health hazards, landfill emissions, and fossil fuel use,” Lucci said. “An added bonus, it will create jobs for the local community.”

WasteFuel says NetJets is the first private aviation company to buy a stake in SAF production. Other investors in WasteFuel include i(x) investments, Guy Oseary and Prime Infra.

In addition to the Manila plant, the companies plan to develop four more SAF biorefineries in the future.