Southwest Airlines is not the only major airline investing in Chicago to decarbonize the industry.
JetBlue Airways Corp. signed a memorandum of understanding this week with Aether Fuels that will see the sustainable fuels maker with principal offices in Chicago and Singapore supply the New York-based airline with sustainable aviation fuel when commercial production begins.
Aether Fuels' Illinois research and development footprint began with a pilot facility at GTI's Des Plaines campus producing 1.5 gallons of sustainable aviation fuel per day, which will expand and move to 100 gallons per day. But that is just the beginning of the startup's plans as it hopes to develop a pipeline of commercial-scale production facilities across the globe.
Established in 2022 as a spinout of Xora Innovation, a Singapore-based early-stage deep-tech venture firm, Aether Fuels' technology can turn different waste carbon feedstocks into jet fuel. This helps with the limited, often-scarce or cost-constrained feedstocks that comes with SAF production processes.
JetBlue's managing director of sustainability and ESG Sara Bogdan said the technology targets a "key need" by enabling access to a wider range of feedstocks.
This is the first MOU that Aether Fuels has signed in the SAF space.
JetBlue Ventures was a previous investor in Aether Fuels and invested in Aether's latest $34 million Series A funding round that was completed in June.
Conor Madigan, co-founder and CEO of Aether, called JetBlue a "leader" in the transition to SAF.
"For a disruptive technology like ours, early and informed input from potential users, including airlines, can accelerate the ramp from R&D to commercialization," he said in a statement.
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