The clean jet fuel technology winning over Wall Street
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Cutting emissions from aircraft is one of the toughest challenges in the energy transition. A small group of startups say they have an answer, and investors are racing to give them cash.
The latest is a company called Twelve, which raised $645 million from backers including the private-equity firm TPG and Alaska Airlines in one of the largest investments ever for clean jet fuel. The investment values Twelve at more than $1 billion. It is one of several startups using a chemical process that mimics photosynthesis to produce jet fuel with far lower emissions than fossil fuels.
They are raising significant amounts of cash in the midst of a rush of funding deals. Last week, Brookfield Asset Management said it would invest more than $200 million into a company called Infinium that has a generally similar approach. Brookfield might put in up to $850 million more.
A few years ago, Prometheus Fuels, a startup with a deal to sell fuel to American Airlines that has a comparable process, hit a $1 billion valuation. A competitor called HIF Global is also a unicorn after raking in investment. Investors are shifting their bets in clean fuels to companies that use chemistry to turn carbon dioxide, water and renewable electricity into energy.
Known as eFuels, synthetic fuels or power to liquids technologies, they offer the tantalizing possibility of producing limitless amounts if given enough cheap renewable power. “This actually has a shot at eventually replacing fossil fuels," said Zachary Bogue, co-managing partner at the venture-capital firm DCVC. It was one of Twelve’s first investors and is putting money in again in the new fundraising.
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