United Airlines has partnered with energy infrastructure company Tallgrass and biorefining company Green Plains to form a joint venture dubbed Blue Blade Energy to develop and commercialize sustainable aviation fuel technology using ethanol, the companies announced Tuesday. The companies will invest up to a combined $50 million for the project.
If the technology is successful, Blue Blade expects to construct a pilot facility in 2024, followed by a full-scale facility that could begin operations by 2028, according to the companies. The technology was developed by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
“Once operational, Blue Blade Energy has the potential to create United’s largest source of SAF, providing up to 135 million gallons of fuel annually,” United Airlines Ventures president Michael Leskinen said in a statement. With a United commitment to purchase up to 2.7 billion gallons of the SAF produced from the joint venture, that works out to about 135 million gallons of the fuel annually for 20 years.
