United has announced a US$15 million investment in carbon capture technology company Svante, which provides materials and technology as part of the value chain that has the potential to convert CO2 removed from the atmosphere and from industrial emission sources into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

This is the latest announced investment from the new UAV Sustainable Flight FundSM, a first-of-its-kind investment vehicle that is designed to leverage support from cross-industry businesses in order to support start-ups focused on decarbonizing air travel through SAF research, technology and production.

United CEO, Scott Kirby, said the airline aims to be 100% green by reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 100% by 2050, without relying on traditional carbon offsets.

To date, he said United has invested in the future production of over three billion gallons of SAF – the most of any airline in the world.

“Carbon capture technology has the potential to be a critical solution in the fight to stop climate change and has the added benefit of helping us scale the production of SAF,” Kirby said.

“And at United we’re building on that approach by investing in both companies that can capture CO2 and others that can turn it into fuel.

“There’s no question that this carbon utilization is in its infancy today, but as a leader in sustainable flying we must help build the foundation to deploy this technology of the future as expediently as possible.

“This is truly a global imperative, and United’s investment in Svante reflects our dedication to making sustainable travel a reality.”

The investment was made as part of Svante’s Series E financing round and will fund and support Svante’s commercial-scale filter manufacturing facility in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Svante is working with world-leading organizations, including Dimensional Energy, a carbon utilization – CO2 to jet fuel – company that United Airlines Ventures invested in last year.