The growing need to reduce carbon emissions is driving many industries, including airlines and transport, to seek sustainable alternatives to achieve emission reduction targets and fulfill corporate social responsibility commitments. One of the solutions is sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% compared to traditional jet fuel.
He called a company based in Ithaca, New York Dimensional Energy produces sustainable jet fuel from carbon dioxide emissions and water, and the company said today it closed $20 million in a Series A round to scale up production of renewable jet fuel.
Envisioning Partners led the latest funding, which brings its total to $28 million, with strategic participation from investors including United Airlines’ Sustainable Aviation Fund, Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, RockCreek Futures Fund, DSC Investment, Delek US, New York Ventures and existing investors such as Elemental Excelerator and Chloe Capital.
“Hydrocarbon mining and production has resulted in not only climate change, but the displacement of indigenous peoples worldwide and a myriad of environmental disasters,” Dimensional Energy founder and CEO Jason Salfi told TechCrunch. “Dimensional Energy replaces oil with carbon dioxide and water. Dimension is committed to sourcing raw materials in balance with nature and the communities where plants are made.”
The company plans to use the new capital to build an advanced liquid fuel power plant using emissions from Lafarge’s Richmond cement plant in British Columbia, Canada. in cooperation with carbon capture technology company Svante. Dimensional also dedicated a portion of the raise to developing a 200-barrel-per-day commercial liquid power facility in New York and introducing its first consumer (B2C) and B2B products, such as fossil-free surf wax and a cruelty-free fat alternative tailored for vegan food companies.
Image Credits: Tristan Davison / Dimensional Energy
The seven-year-old company sells its products to airlines, freight companies and specialty chemical companies. Earlier this year, Dimensional Energy and Boom Supersonic, an aircraft manufacturer, signed an agreement on the sustainable disposal of aviation fuel that Boom would purchase up to 5 million gallons of SAF per year for Boom’s airplane flight test program. The company’s investor, United Airlines also sealed a deal to absorb 300 million gallons last year.
Dimension generates revenue through acquisition deals, Salfi said, adding that it is actively seeking additional long-term contracts with airlines and specialty chemical companies. In addition, the company will develop projects in collaboration with EPCs (engineering, procurement and construction) to expand its business, the CEO noted.
“In recent decades, low-carbon and efficiency gains have been developed at scale,” Salfi said. “Dimension saw the need in 2016 to make the molecules that would support a circular economy from carbon dioxide and renewable energy sources. The company has continued to invent, integrate, scale and develop platform technologies that produce environmentally responsible and socially just hydrocarbons.”
In addition to raising Series A funds, Dimensional announced its Delaware Public Benefit Corporation filing. Salfi said it is working with third parties to verify its performance, carbon intensity and full life cycle analysis.
“The world needs immediate and rapid decarbonization across all sectors, and Dimensional Energy shows promise as a cleaner, lower-carbon solution to air transportation alongside industrial emissions reductions,” said Brandon Middaugh, senior director of climate innovation fund at Microsoft. “Microsoft was an early adopter of sustainable aviation fuel and sees this market as critical to global decarbonisation, which is why Microsoft’s climate innovation fund supports Dimensional Energy’s work as a direct equity investor.”
Other renewable jet fuel manufacturers include LanzaTech, Neste, Gevo and World Energy. Dimensional’s core expertise is its unparalleled diversity of skills and backgrounds, Salfi said, without further explanation. The outfit has 41 employees.
“Dimensional Energy’s combination of proven large-scale technology, proprietary catalyst technology and project development capabilities positions the company very well to rapidly scale globally,” said Yong Hyun Kim, CEO of Envisioning Partners.
