United wants to turn microalgae into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) through the first new investment of its recently announced UAV Sustainable Flight Fund since its launch: algae biofuel company Viridos.

This $5 million investment will support the production of SAF made from algae, an abundant and scalable resource that can be grown and harvested without impacting the food supply chain.

Viridos specialises in the bioengineering of microalgae and its proprietary technology accelerates the amount of oil that can be produced from microalgae. This algae oil could then be used to scale the future production of SAF.

SAF is an alternative to conventional jet fuel that, on a lifecycle basis, reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with air travel compared to conventional jet fuel alone.

SAF is made from used cooking oil and agricultural waste, and in the future could be made from other feedstocks, including household waste, forest waste or algae.

To date, United Airlines has invested in the future production of over three billion gallons of SAF, which the airline claims is the most of any airline in the world.

United Airlines Ventures President Mike Leskinen said,

SAF is proven, scalable, and the best tool we have to reduce our carbon emissions from flying, but we face a significant shortage of available feedstock.

As the global aviation leader in SAF production investment United remains committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions, without relying on traditional carbon offsets, by 2050.

Viridos’ algae-based biofuel technology has the potential to help solve our supply problem without the need for farmland or other agricultural resources and marks our inaugural investment in our new cross-industry UAV Sustainable Flight Fund.

Viridos, a biofuel company focused on decarbonising industries, is leading the bioengineering of microalgae and has already achieved seven times the oil productivity compared to typical wild-type algae.

This creates an opportunity for potentially scalable and more sustainable production of algae oil, that could later be used to produce SAF.

Oliver Fetzer, Viridos Chief Executive Officer said.

By establishing production sites to grow Viridos-engineered microalgae in saltwater, we are creating the foundation for a biofuel future that moves away from fossil fuels without competing for precious resources such as fresh water and arable land.

We are excited to have the support from United Airlines. Together we can build the ecosystem needed to bring algae biofuels to the market.

Based on current estimates, SAF created by Viridos’ algae oil is expected to have a 70% reduced carbon footprint on a lifecycle basis when compared to traditional jet fuel.