Alaska Airlines announced Monday the launch of Alaska star ventures to invest in new aviation technology as part of the airline’s goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040.
In the first cooperation, the new Alaska subsidiary will invest $15 million with venture capital firm up. Partners. The Alaska investment is part of a new $230 million investment plan. It was also announced on Monday that the partners venture fund will support early transportation and mobile technology companies.
Diana Birkett Rakow, vice president of public affairs and sustainable development in Alaska, said in an interview with geekwire that Alaska star ventures is exploring additional investments in other industry funds and individual companies in the future.
“How our filters make our operations net zero and what technologies can help us move along this path,” LaCO said. She added: “part of our partnership with up is to benefit from their trading processes and expertise, and then observe how they do this when we talk to various other technology companies.”
Diana Birkett Rakow, vice president of public affairs and sustainable development in Alaska (prnewsfoto / Alaska Airlines)
In April this year, Seattle based Alaska set a net zero emission target and joined the climate commitment, an initiative led by Amazon to limit emissions, including more than 100 companies.
Alaska’s plan is divided into five parts: updating the fleet and equipping it with more efficient aircraft, such as Boeing 737-9 max; Improve operational efficiency; Use of sustainable aviation fuels; Increase the use of electricity or alternative energy; And the use of carbon offset technology.
“We really hope that funds in the fields of energy, aviation or mobile can help our separate companies in one of these five areas,” LaCO said.
LaCO acknowledged that for the aviation industry, net zero carbon emission is a difficult task. “Climate change is one of our biggest global problems, and the aviation industry is one of the most challenging decarbonization industries,” she said. However, “in fact, technology is actively developing solutions to this problem, which I think is a very cool integration.”
Rakow pointed out existing projects in Alaska, such as using the “flyways” software of startup airspace intelligence to efficiently map the road.
In April this year, Alaska signed a “memorandum of understanding” with skynrg America to increase investment in sustainable aviation fuel. Skynrg America is developing production facilities to produce fuel from municipal waste and other waste products. The two companies have also established a partnership with Microsoft, which aims to use skynrg fuel credit to offset employees’ flights during trips between Seattle and California.
Eventually, the power option may take over some routes, especially short regional trips, lako said. The partner’s portfolio includes Amazon supported beta technologies, which is developing a vertical take-off and landing electric aircraft.
Partners was co founded by Ben Marcus and Cyrus sigari in 2019. Cyrus sigari earlier co founded jetaviva and airmap, commercial aircraft sellers, a traffic management platform for UAVs and flying cars. Other supported companies. Partners include UAV and flight independent companies skydio and unitx, which produce software inspection systems for automated manufacturing.
The United Nations estimates that aircraft carbon dioxide emissions will triple by 2050, adding urgency to Alaska’s efforts and similar plans of other airlines.
United Airlines aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. A new venture capital institution was established in June this year. JetBlue also has a net zero target for 2040 and a venture capital subsidiary JetBlue technology venture capital, which invests in “improving tourism and hotels”