LanzaJet on Sustainable Aviation Fuel and the Future of Alternative Fuels

ChemAnalyst Talks with Mr. Jimmy Samartzis, Chief Executive Officer of LanzaJet

LanzaJet, a leading alternative fuels technology provider, is driving the global transition to Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) using its patented ethanol-based Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ) technology. This process converts ethanol into drop-in jet fuel and renewable diesel, cutting lifecycle carbon emissions by up to 80% while supporting rural economies and energy security. ChemAnalyst spoke with Mr. Jimmy Samartzis, CEO of LanzaJet, about the company’s vision and strategy. Drawing on his experience in government, consulting, and United Airlines, Samartzis emphasizes collaboration, measurable impact, and financial sustainability in advancing SAF. He highlighted LanzaJet’s partnership with KazMunayGas to develop Central Asia’s first SAF facility, showing how global collaboration can scale production and strengthen regional economies. Looking ahead, LanzaJet plans to expand projects in the UK, India, Japan, and Australia, advance ATJ technology, and explore green hydrogen and carbon capture integration. Under Samartzis’s leadership, the company fosters a culture of purpose-driven innovation, aiming to make SAF the standard for aviation while delivering lasting environmental and economic impact.

Complete Interview with Mr. Jimmy Samartzis

Q: Please provide an overview of your professional journey and leadership experience in sustainable fuels, and how these experiences have influenced your vision and approach as CEO of LanzaJet in pioneering next-generation aviation fuel solutions.

Mr. Jimmy Samartzis: I often reflect upon the idea that the evolution of sustainable aviation fuel has mirrored my own professional journey. My career started in government and policy with a front row seat at the highest levels of the US government, including at The White House, witnessing the complexities of international affairs. My early career was spent in strategy consulting, helping organizations undergo complex transformations in the oil and gas, aviation, and national security industries. When I joined United Airlines, I had the opportunity to apply this background of working across the public and private sectors to a global stage, leading efforts that combined business strategy, sustainability, corporate responsibility, and innovation across one of the world’s largest and most operationally complex companies.

As an executive at United, I often took on the role of an intrapreneur, advancing innovation across the airline and the industry. I experienced the challenges and the promise of sustainable aviation fuel first-hand. In the first decade of the 21st century, when most people thought alternative fuels were just a dream, I was fortunate to help lead early initiatives that proved SAF could work technically, commercially, and operationally. That experience fundamentally shaped my perspective. I learned that advancing this sector requires technology that would reshape an 80-year-old fossil jet fuel industry, alongside persistence, partnerships, new supply chains, and global alignment.

In turn, I had the unique opportunity to join LanzaJet as its Founding CEO, shaping the company from the ground up, spanning our business strategy, culture and relationships, complementing the technology development previously conducted. LanzaJet allowed me to bring my full skillset built over two decades from government policy and business strategy to technology development and operations. I was able to carry forward the momentum that started from my time at United, into an opportunity allowing me to seek out global impact and scale.

I carry forward the lessons of those early days: collaboration and alignment across our global industry is key; sustainability must be a shared responsibility and anchored in financial viability; and impact only matters when it’s measurable, equitable, and lasting.

Q: Could you outline LanzaJet’s current strategic priorities, particularly in the context of your collaboration with KazMunayGas (KMG) to develop Kazakhstan’s first Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) facility? How important are such international partnerships in driving regional and global SAF adoption?

Mr. Jimmy Samartzis: Our focus is on using ethanol as a feedstock and deploying our proprietary and industry leading technology to transform ethanol into a drop-in renewable transportation fuel – both SAF and renewable diesel. Ethanol is a terrific building block molecule that allows us to using existing supply, enable it to be created from many waste sources and energy crops, and pivot it from a declining need in road transportation due to electrification to aviation as a promising, long-term market. This work allows us to build rural economies, support energy security needs, achieve decarbonization goals, and in some countries, further national security objectives.

Our partnership with KazMunayGas (KMG) is a milestone not just for Kazakhstan, but for the global SAF industry. Together, we’re developing the country’s and the Central Asia region’s first SAF facility, leveraging our LanzaJet’s Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ) technology and KMG’s regional strength to create a model of local innovation serving global goals.

This partnership embodies our broader strategy to scale SAF production, build regional capacity and the local economy, and foster meaningful international collaboration. The future of sustainable fuels depends on this kind of cross-border partnership, where technology, resources, and ambition intersect.

Kazakhstan has the opportunity to lead Central Asia in clean energy innovation. By combining KMG’s energy expertise with LanzaJet’s proven SAF platform and industry-building expertise, we’re not just engineering a biorefinery, we’re building a foundation for regional energy security, agricultural development, industrial diversification, and long-term climate impact.

Q: How is the global demand for sustainable aviation fuel evolving, and how does LanzaJet’s Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ) technology address these market dynamics while reducing carbon emissions?

Mr. Jimmy Samartzis: The demand for sustainable aviation fuel has moved from aspiration to urgency. Airlines, cargo operators, private aviation, and even corporate travel programs are setting aggressive SAF targets. Yet, supply still trails far behind. To put it in perspective, the aviation industry has set goals to achieve net zero by 2050 and with today’s jet fuel demand of more than 100 billion gallons, SAF production available today only accounts for less than 0.5%. The industry has a long way to go to achieve interim targets of 5%, 10%, and ultimately net zero, particularly with continued expansion and growth of the aviation industry.

This is exactly why LanzaJet’s Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ) technology is essential. It converts ethanol, which is already produced on a massive global scale, into drop-in jet fuel that can reduce lifecycle emissions by up to 80%. Because ethanol can come from a variety of sources, from waste-based and cellulosic materials to low-carbon feedstocks and energy crops, ATJ offers unparalleled flexibility that is relevant to every continent in the world.

This adaptability allows us to build projects where feedstock, infrastructure and demand already exist, helping accelerate SAF availability worldwide. In essence, ATJ bridges the gap between today’s ethanol economy and tomorrow’s sustainable aviation industry.

Q: Beyond airlines, sectors such as agriculture, logistics, and energy security are key enablers for SAF. How does LanzaJet integrate these cross-sector linkages into its project design and long-term strategy to maximize impact?

Mr. Jimmy Samartzis: One of the most important lessons I’ve learned over the years is that sustainability doesn’t happen in silos. Aviation’s decarbonization depends on agriculture, logistics and energy systems evolving together, in tandem with the worlds of finance and policy.

At LanzaJet, we design every project as part of a wider ecosystem. We work with farmers to develop sustainable biomass and waste-based feedstocks, creating new value streams in rural economies. We partner with logistics providers to integrate existing infrastructure for ethanol and jet fuel transport, minimizing new emissions. And we collaborate with governments and energy companies to strengthen local energy independence through SAF production.

This systems-level approach ensures our projects do more than reduce emissions; they build resilience, prosperity, and inclusion. Our work with KMG reflects that. It’s as much about national strategy and regional cooperation as it is about aviation fuel.

Q: What are the most critical operational, financial, or innovation-related challenges currently facing LanzaJet as it scales SAF production globally, and how are you navigating them?

Mr. Jimmy Samartzis: Scaling a new global energy sector is never simple. The challenges and risk span technology, financing, feedstock availability, policy frameworks, and many others. But the most pressing challenge right now is speed; meeting rapidly growing demand while ensuring projects remain both economically and environmentally sustainable.

We’re addressing that by focusing on replicable project models that reduce design and engineering time, strengthening partnerships that balance risk and investing in R&D to improve yield and lower production costs.

Our LanzaJet Freedom Pines Fuels facility in Georgia, the world’s first commercial-scale ATJ plant, is a proof point. It demonstrates our technology, but that it can deliver scale and real carbon reductions. Every project we build now benefits from that experience and the de-risking we have invested in for our customers and partners, allowing us to move faster and smarter.

Q: Looking ahead, what major milestones does LanzaJet aim to achieve over the next year, particularly in terms of project deployment, technology advancement?

Mr. Jimmy Samartzis: The year ahead will be transformational for LanzaJet. We’ll continue learning from our Georgia facility and its operations, progress the KMG collaboration into early engineering and project development, and advance projects already underway in the UK and emerging markets like Australia, India and Japan.

Equally important is deepening our partnerships with airlines, investors, and governments, in order to create the enabling conditions for SAF to thrive. On the technology side, we’re pushing forward on process enhancements, innovations, and expanding our feedstock platform, to further improve carbon intensity and cost.

Each of these milestones moves us closer to a world where SAF isn’t the exception, but the norm.

Q: Innovation is not just about technology but also about leadership and culture. How do you foster a culture of innovation at LanzaJet, and what guiding principles help you lead the company in such a transformative sector?

Mr. Jimmy Samartzis: For me, innovation starts with people, not products. It’s about creating an environment where ideas can surface freely, where experimentation is encouraged, where diverse talents of people come together, and where failure is treated as learning.

At LanzaJet, we anchor our culture around a shared mission, accelerating the clean energy transition for aviation so that future generations can continue to fly and thrive through the benefits that travel brings to our economy and society. That mission gives our teams a sense of purpose and unity, even in the face of uncertainty. We emphasize transparency, collaboration, and accountability, values that not only define how we work but also how we lead.

Leading a company requires flexibility, especially given an ever-evolving geopolitical landscape, changing business strategies in both aviation and the oil and gas industries, as well as the uncertainty of capital. We work to shape these industries and global outcomes, but they are complex. We build capability and muscle to navigate uncertainty and risk, and I often spend time helping my team understand these complexities and work to succeed through them.

As CEO, my role is to keep our mission alive, to remind everyone why their work matters, and how we’re succeeding in unchartered waters. When people feel connected to purpose, innovation and execution excellence follows naturally!

Q: Please share your insights on emerging trends and opportunities shaping the future of sustainable fuels—from SAF and hydrogen integration to synthetic fuels—and where you see LanzaJet’s most exciting growth opportunities over the next decade.

Mr. Jimmy Samartzis: The next decade will redefine the energy and aviation landscape. We’re seeing rapid progress in hydrogen, e-fuels, and carbon capture, and I believe the future will be one of convergence, where these technologies complement rather than compete.

For LanzaJet, that could mean expanding beyond bio-based SAF production. To that effect, our ATJ technology platform can integrate with renewable power, captured carbon and green hydrogen, in order to create a Power-to-Liquid SAF from e-Ethanol, capable of delivering even lower emissions.

Overall, what excites me most is that the world is no longer asking if SAF can scale, but rather how fast this can take place. We know there is a $1 Trillion total addressable market, underpinned by aviation’s need for up to 400-500 million metric Tonnes of SAF by 2050, in order to meet its Net Zero 2050 target. LanzaJet’s role is to help make that scale real, and we’re doing all the right things to help our company and industry both succeed!

ChemAnalyst Insights on Jet Kerosene

Jet kerosene, the conventional aviation fuel derived from petroleum, is increasingly being complemented by Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)—a bio-based, “drop-in” alternative that can be blended with traditional kerosene for use in existing aircraft and infrastructure. While both fuels are compatible, SAF offers a significant environmental advantage due to its lower carbon footprint, achieved by recycling atmospheric CO2 through renewable feedstocks such as waste oils, agricultural residues, and municipal waste. In Europe, jet kerosene consumption showed a steady upward trend during Q3 2025, supported by increased air travel and seasonal heating demand, reflecting a gradual recovery since early 2025. Activity strengthened in September as airlines ramped up procurement ahead of the autumn travel season, while supply adjustments from refiners prioritizing diesel and gasoline affected availability. Production efficiency remained stable, with consistent refinery throughput, though regional energy costs and carbon compliance requirements added some operational pressure. Overall demand was positive, driven by commercial aviation, cargo flights, military operations, and seasonal heating needs, influenced by increased consumption, refinery output adjustments, operational constraints, and seasonal trends that contributed to higher consumption and added logistics coordination.