Carbon Capture Coalition Statement on First-Ever Transatlantic Flight Using Low-Carbon Jet Fuel Produced from Captured Waste Industrial Gases

Today, Virgin Atlantic and LanzaTech, in partnership with Boeing, announced a first-ever transatlantic flight of a commercial airliner from Orlando, FL to London Gatwick will use low-carbon jet fuel produced from waste industrial gases such as carbon monoxide that can be captured at steel plants and other industrial facilities. Brad Crabtree, vice president of the Great Plains Institute and co-director of the Carbon Capture Coalition, represented the Coalition at the event and made the following statement:

LanzaTech and Virgin Atlantic are to be congratulated for achieving this important and inspiring milestone. Transforming waste carbon emissions from steel production and other industries into low-carbon jet fuel exemplifies the extraordinary potential before us as entrepreneurs and innovators develop new ways to capture and add economic value to carbon, while reducing emissions and creating jobs in the process.

The Carbon Capture Coalition worked with LanzaTech and members of the Senate earlier this year to ensure that the FUTURE Act makes the capture and utilization of carbon monoxide, and not just carbon dioxide, eligible for the 45Q tax credit. The pathway to carbon utilization that LanzaTech and Virgin Atlantic are pioneering—converting industrial carbon monoxide emissions into ethanol and ultimately low-carbon jet fuel—provides a powerful example of the kind of innovation that the newly-reformed federal 45Q tax credit and other complementary legislation, such as the USE IT Act, are intended to help bring to commercial scale in the marketplace.