Climate Tech Startup Twelve Opens First U.S. Commercial Plant Making Jet Fuel From CO2

California-based climate technology startup Twelve has officially opened AirPlant One in Moses Lake, Washington, marking the launch of the first commercial-scale facility in the United States to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) directly from captured carbon dioxide and renewable electricity. The ribbon-cutting ceremony, held on June 10, 2026, signals a major milestone for the emerging e-fuels sector and demonstrates the commercial viability of power-to-liquid fuel production on American soil.[1][2][6]

Unlike conventional bio-based sustainable aviation fuels, which rely on agricultural feedstocks like used cooking oil or plant crops, Twelve's proprietary eManufacturing process requires no biological inputs. Instead, the facility uses an electrolyzer to combine captured CO2, water, and renewable electricity into hydrocarbon fuel molecules. This power-to-liquid approach bypasses the land-use constraints and supply chain bottlenecks that have historically limited the scale of biofuel production.[1][2][3][5]

The resulting product, branded as E-Jet fuel, is a synthetic aviation fuel that is chemically identical to conventional jet fuel. It meets ASTM International certification standards and serves as a direct "drop-in" replacement, meaning it requires absolutely no modifications to existing aircraft, engines, or airport fueling infrastructure. According to Twelve, this synthetic fuel has the potential to reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90% compared to traditional fossil-derived jet fuel.[1][2][4][5]

The realization of AirPlant One was heavily supported by early corporate partnerships. In 2022, Alaska Airlines and Microsoft signed a joint commitment to purchase the facility's future output. Twelve credits this early offtake agreement as the crucial commercial signal that made financing and construction of the first-of-its-kind plant possible. Both companies also backed Twelve financially, with investments flowing through Alaska Star Ventures and the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund.[1][4][5][6]

With the facility now operational, Alaska Airlines intends to use the E-Jet fuel to operate regular domestic flights. Microsoft's involvement includes a specialized offtake agreement utilizing a book-and-claim accounting model, which allows the tech giant to apply the environmental benefits of the sustainable fuel toward reducing the reported emissions associated with its corporate business travel.[2][4][5]

Beyond its environmental benefits, the power-to-liquid model offers a unique economic advantage for the aviation industry: price stability. Because the cost of producing E-Jet fuel is anchored to long-term renewable power purchase agreements rather than the volatile global crude oil market, Twelve states it can offer airlines up to a decade of fuel price predictability. For carriers managing billion-dollar fuel budgets subject to geopolitical shocks, this represents a structural shift in how energy costs are forecasted.[3][4][5]

Aviation fuel is not the only output of the Moses Lake facility. AirPlant One also produces E-Naphtha, a low-carbon synthetic chemical feedstock. Chemically identical to fossil-derived naphtha, this byproduct can serve as a sustainable building block for a wide range of industrial and consumer goods, including plastics, packaging, solvents, and synthetic fibers. This dual-product stream opens a new revenue channel and allows manufacturers to source foundational chemicals without relying on petrochemical extraction.[1][2][7]

The successful launch of AirPlant One proves that critical fuels and chemicals can be manufactured using abundant, onshore feedstocks, strengthening domestic supply chain resilience. Nicholas Flanders, Co-Founder and CEO of Twelve, emphasized that the facility validates the company's founding thesis: that the fuels powering the global economy can be synthesized from air and renewable electricity anywhere in the world. With the technology now proven at commercial scale, Twelve is positioning itself to expand its production capacity across additional sites as U.S. renewable energy infrastructure continues to grow.[3][4][5][6]