# CleanJoule **Type:** venture **Status:** Draft **Confidence:** Medium **Focus:** sustainable aviation fuel, biofuels, rocket propellant, biomanufacturing, aerospace decarbonization **Stage:** Private, growth (backed by Indigo Partners, GenZero, Frontier Airlines, Wizz Airlines, Volaris) **Location:** Salt Lake City, UT **Updated:** 2026-06-19 **Domain:** aerospace-defense, energy **Region:** Salt Lake City, UT **Needs-reviewed:** 2026-06-19 **Hero:** https://picsum.photos/seed/cleanjoule-2026/1600/1100 **Relates:** cites [Official Website: CleanJoule](cleanjoule-official-website.md) ## Summary CleanJoule is a Salt Lake City-based biofuels company, founded around 2020, that produces biomanufactured aviation fuel and rocket propellant intended to outperform petroleum-derived fuels on energy density. Its CycloSAF product has roughly 10 percent higher energy density than standard Jet-A aviation fuel; its SpaceSAF product is designed as a drop-in replacement for RP-1 rocket propellant (used in engines such as SpaceX's Merlin) with over 4 percent higher energy density. The company is backed by airline operators as strategic investors — Frontier Airlines, Wizz Airlines, and Volaris — along with Indigo Partners and GenZero. As of late 2024 the company was pursuing ASTM certification for CycloSAF and building toward its first full-scale US manufacturing plant. ## Impact Sustainable aviation fuel is one of the harder decarbonization problems: commercial aviation cannot readily electrify, hydrogen fuel is not near-term practical for most aircraft, and most existing SAF requires blending with conventional jet fuel or carries a cost premium. CleanJoule's differentiation is thermodynamic rather than environmental: CycloSAF's higher energy density gives operators a performance benefit, not just a sustainability credential. Airlines can carry more payload or extend range on the same fuel weight. That eliminates the adoption friction most climate-tech companies face — operators benefit directly, rather than accepting a penalty in exchange for reduced emissions. The SpaceSAF logic is similar but applied to launch vehicles. In rocket propulsion, a 4 percent improvement in propellant energy density is meaningful for payload-to-orbit calculations and could enable sustainable launch without redesigning existing engines. If ASTM certification is achieved and manufacturing scales successfully, CleanJoule's products would be drop-in replacements across existing aviation and launch infrastructure — an unusually low adoption barrier for a deep decarbonization technology. ## What They Are Building CleanJoule operates a feedstock-flexible biochemical conversion process — the company is not locked to a single biological input. The process combines fermentation and catalytic conversion steps to produce cyclic hydrocarbon compounds with higher energy density than the straight-chain and branched hydrocarbons typical of petroleum-derived jet fuel. Key products: - **CycloSAF** — sustainable aviation fuel with approximately 10 percent higher energy density than Jet-A; ASTM certification in progress as of late 2024. - **SpaceSAF** — drop-in replacement for RP-1 rocket kerosene, announced late 2024 with 4 percent or higher energy density advantage; certification progress and launch customer status not publicly confirmed. The company was building its first full-scale US manufacturing facility in 2025, representing the transition from process development to industrial production. ## What They Need Now Biochemical engineers, process engineers, and catalytic chemists with biofuel scale-up experience are the most relevant technical contributors. A DoD partnership signals interest in defense and government-contract pathways alongside commercial aviation. Manufacturing, quality, and supply chain hires are likely priorities as the company moves toward full-scale production. The airline strategic investors suggest customer relationships are active; bringing those contracts to signed offtake agreements would be a key commercial milestone. ## Who Could Help Indigo Partners (major airline ownership group) and the airline strategic investors are already aligned. Additional useful connections include ASTM certification bodies and FAA liaisons, DoD procurement and energy programs, launch vehicle operators evaluating SpaceSAF, institutional climate investors capable of supporting growth-stage industrial biomanufacturing, and advanced manufacturing partners for the production facility build-out. ## Utah Context CleanJoule's Salt Lake City presence makes it one of Utah's more distinctive deep-tech bets — a growth-stage company with airline-operator investors that sits at the intersection of biotech, materials science, and aerospace. Utah has an emerging aerospace cluster (supported by nearby DoD installations and a growing commercial space presence), and CleanJoule's SpaceSAF product connects to that ecosystem. The company's scale-up phase makes it a plausible employer for Utah-based engineers and manufacturing professionals. ## Evidence - [Official Website: CleanJoule](cleanjoule-official-website.md) ## See Also ## Open Questions - Has CycloSAF received ASTM certification since late 2024, when it was listed as in progress? - What is the current status of the first full-scale US manufacturing facility? - Are there signed offtake agreements with Frontier, Wizz, Volaris, or other airlines beyond strategic investment relationships? - What is the current status of SpaceSAF ASTM certification and launch-vehicle customer engagement? - What is the DoD partnership — which program office, and what are the contract terms? - Biofuel scale-up economics have historically been harder than lab economics; what cost-per-gallon targets has the company identified for competitive parity? - The placeholder hero should be replaced with a cleared manufacturing or fuel technology photograph when rights are confirmed.