Exclusive: Sora Fuel raises $6M to help carbon dioxide power planes
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Sustainable aviation fuel startup Sora Fuel closed a $6 million seed round to ramp up hiring and buy lab equipment, the company tells Axios.
Why it matters: Airlines are eager to buy greater volumes of lower cost sustainable aviation fuel to help meet climate goals.
Zoom in: Boston-based Sora Fuel said The Engine Ventures led the round and Wireframe Ventures and others participated.
- Sora Fuel co-founder and CEO Gareth Ross said the company is focused on proving its tech can scale and plans to build a prototype within the next two years.
How it works: The company has developed an electrolyzer that can capture CO2 directly from the air and turn it into sustainable aviation fuel (or SAF).
- While other companies like Twelve and Air Company are using CO2 as a feedstock for SAF, Sora Fuel is able to both capture the CO2 and convert it in one continuous process.
- The company says its electrolyzer can capture CO2 (in a liquid form) for $20 per ton, which it says makes its process lower cost than competitors.
- Sora Fuel was created within The Engine Ventures using tech developed by and licensed from the University of British Columbia. Co-founder and Chief Science Officer Patrick Sarver previously worked as a venture associate at the firm.
The big picture: The aviation sector is being pushed by regulation and sustainability commitments to cut carbon emissions.
- The sector's big hope is to use SAF to replace part or all of its carbon-intensive jet fuel. Yet SAF volumes are severely constrained right now.
- The most widely available SAF option is made from bio-based materials like agricultural waste, animal-fat waste and used cooking oil. And those sources are inherently limited.
- Using CO2 to make SAF is a promising new way, and a group of startups is moving swiftly to scale projects, sign airline deals and raise funding.
The intrigue: SAF volumes are so constrained right now that some airlines, like Air New Zealand, decided to ditch emissions targets.
- SAF will only make up 0.5% of total global jet fuel use this year.
