Southwest Airlines has unveiled a significant agreement with USA BioEnergy, LLC, securing access to a maximum of 680 million gallons of eco-friendly aviation fuel (SAF). This 20-year deal, which entails blending SAF with traditional jet fuel, has the potential to generate around 2.59 billion gallons of carbon-neutral fuel while averting the emission of 30 million metric tons of CO2. Southwest plans to commence SAF procurement from USA BioEnergy’s facility in Bon Wier, Texas, as early as 2028. Furthermore, this agreement establishes a long-term strategic partnership between Southwest and USA BioEnergy, allowing for the potential purchase of an additional 180 million gallons of SAF per annum from future planned production facilities.
Southwest acknowledges the pivotal role that economically viable SAF will play in its pursuit of both short-term and long-term carbon reduction objectives. The airline is actively engaging with various stakeholders in the aviation industry to tackle the challenges on the path to achieving its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, defined by the use of fuel with a carbon intensity of zero (0) gCO2e/MJ or lower on a lifecycle basis.
“This offtake agreement with USA BioEnergy marks important progress in the development of our SAF portfolio and furthers our goal to replace 10 percent of our total jet fuel consumption with SAF by 2030,” said Michael AuBuchon, Managing Director Fuel Strategy and Management at Southwest Airlines. “We look forward to the opportunity to grow our strategic relationship with USA BioEnergy and potentially purchase more SAF from them in the future.”
“Our agreement with Southwest Airlines is a perfect fit because it aligns Southwest’s goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and USA BioEnergy’s goal of becoming the leading producer of carbon-negative fuel,” said David Prom, Chairman of the Board, Co-Founder of USA BioEnergy. “USA BioEnergy is excited to work with Southwest on this initial project and, potentially, future sites we may add in our pipeline.”