At United, our purpose of “Connecting People. Uniting the World.” impacts every decision we make and reminds us of the robust influence we have on the world. As an industry that depends on fossil fuels to operate, we recognize our contribution to climate change and our responsibility to help solve it. That’s why United is the only airline in the world to commit to becoming 100% green by reducing our carbon emissions 100% by 2050 without relying on traditional carbon offsets.
To help achieve this goal, we created United Airlines Ventures (UAV), a corporate venture capital fund, to facilitate continued investment in emerging companies that have the potential to influence the future of travel. The fund concentrates on innovative technologies and revolutionary aerospace developments that are expected to enhance the entire customer travel experience and help United meet its climate goals.
As part of our commitment to new technologies that have the capability to permanently reduce our emissions from flying, we recently announced an investment in Houston-based biotech firm Cemvita Factory. The goal of this collaboration is to commercialize the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that is intended to be developed through a revolutionary new process using carbon dioxide and synthetic microbes.
“At United, we have been consistent in leading the airline industry with bold action when it comes to fighting climate change,” says Michael Leskinen, President of United Airlines Ventures. “That starts with building an ecosystem around companies like Cemvita Factory to create and commercialize new SAF technologies.”
Cemvita Factory is on a mission to bring about a more sustainable future by transforming carbon dioxide into a suite of products. The company intends to use synthetic biology to turn carbon dioxide into chemicals and alternative fuels, including SAF. Cemvita Factory is among the first to employ this technology to support heavy industry decarbonization and find ways to use synthetic biology to turn carbon dioxide into fuel.
“Cemvita Factory is delighted to team up with United for this exciting development,” says Moji Karimi, cofounder and CEO of Cemvita Factory. “We commend United Airlines for its leadership in the airline industry’s decarbonization efforts.” At United, we are committed to doing the right thing for our customers, the airline, and the planet, which is why we have invested in more SAF production than any other airline in the world. This type of cross-industry collaboration to build eco- systems around companies like Cemvita Factory to create and commercialize new SAF technologies is essential to implementing real, sustainable change and reducing our
carbon emissions.
Please visit united.com/environment to learn more about our other commitments to reduce our emissions and operate more sustainably.
