USA BioEnergy acquires land in East Texas for its $2.8B SAF biorefinery

In Texas, USA BioEnergy announced it has closed on the acquisition of 1,600+ acres of land in East Texas for its new $2.8 billion advanced biorefinery, designed to convert wood waste into sustainable, net-zero aviation fuel (SAF). The landmark SAF facility already secured a 20-year offtake agreement with Southwest Airlines and is at the forefront of advancing ultra-low-carbon fuel, which is much needed in the future of aviation.

USABE’s planned $2.8 billion greenfield facility in Bon Weir, Texas, is currently in detailed design and engineering and aims to address airlines’ growing demand for SAF by converting sustainably sourced forest thinnings into sustainable aviation fuel. USA BioEnergy signed a 20-year offtake agreement with Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) under which Southwest may purchase up to 680 million gallons of neat – or unblended – SAF. Once blended with conventional jet fuel, the SAF could produce the equivalent of 2.59 billion gallons of net-zero fuel and avoid 30 million metric tons of CO2 over the offtake agreement term.  According to USABE calculations this will enable approximately 112,000 short (less than three hours) or 7,000 long haul (more than 10 hours) net-zero airline flights per year.