In Japan, Japan Airlines has invested in Morisora Bio Refinery to advance sustainable aviation fuel produced from domestically sourced woody biomass bioethanol.
Morisora Bio Refinery is a joint venture established in July 2025 by three companies: Nippon Paper Industries Co., Sumitomo Corporation, and Green Earth Institute Inc. As part of the “Project Morisora,” the joint venture seeks to commercialize the production and sale of bioethanol and biochemical products derived from woody biomass feedstock. A demonstration plant will be constructed within Nippon Paper’s Iwanuma mill in Miyagi Prefecture, using sustainable forest resources such as wood processing residues from the Tohoku region. Utilizing GEI’s low-carbon, low-cost bioethanol production technology, the plant aims to produce over 1,000 kiloliters of bioethanol annually starting in 2027.
This investment, as an airline company and SAF user, supports the establishment of a “purely domestic SAF” business on wood sourced within Japan, the airline said.
JAL and Morisora Bio Refinery said they will continue efforts to scale up mass production and promote purely domestic SAF derived from domestically sourced wood through Project Morisora.
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