Renewable jet fuel SUSTEO used for the first time with the HondaJet!
Members of the public can now choose to use renewable jet fuel in private jets from this autumn
Achieving the first SUSTEO flight for a commercial aircraft
Moving toward a society in which the use of renewable jet fuel is the norm in our everyday lives

Joint-owners of the HondaJet Elite (Kotaro Chiba and associates)
Japan Biz Aviation Co., Ltd.
euglena Co., Ltd.

Euglena Co., Ltd. (HQ: Minato-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Mitsuru Izumo; hereafter, “Euglena”) is pleased to announce that a flight was conducted using Euglena’s biofuel SUSTEO*1 (the brand name of the biofuel manufactured and sold by Euglena, hereafter, “SUSTEO”) in the HondaJet Elite, a private jet operated and managed by Japan Biz Aviation Co., Ltd. (HQ: Ota-ku, Tokyo; co-Representative Directors: Shin Koizumi and Masayuki Tominaga; hereafter, “JBA”), and jointly owned by Kotaro Chiba and associates. Euglena is also pleased to announce that customers will be able to choose to use SUSTEO as an option when applying for public charter flights with the HondaJet Elite, which is scheduled to begin service in autumn 2021, as part of Euglena’s aim toward achieving a world where the use of biofuel is the norm.*1 Press release dated June 29, 2021 https://www.euglena.jp/news/20210629-2/

Press conference at Kagoshima Airport

1. Successful flight using SUSTEO with the HondaJet Elite

　Kotaro Chiba and associates, the joint-owners of the HondaJet Elite used in this flight, endorse Euglena’s “GREEN OIL JAPAN” philosophy and this has led to their use of Euglena’s SUSTEO biofuel as a means to reduce the amount of CO2emissions when traveling by jet aircraft. This is the first time in the world that the SUSTEO jet fuel has been used in a commercial aircraft.
　SUSTEO used in this flight is a biofuel created with a blendstock of existing petroleum-based jet fuel and renewable jet fuel manufactured using the BIC process at Euglena’s biofuel manufacturing demonstration plant, and has passed compliance testing for ASTM D7566 Annex 6 standards conducted by an external inspection agency*2. Lipids derived from used cooking oil and microalgae Euglena are used for the raw material to create this renewable jet fuel.
*2 Press release dated March 15, 2021 https://www.euglena.jp/news/20210315/

　This flight took off from Kagoshima Airport at 11 AM on June 29, 2021, and landed at Haneda Airport after flying for approximately 90 minutes. euglena also set up an online livestream through YouTube in commemoration of this flight. (https://youtu.be/YzDXPtNWfIk)

2. Providing the option to use SUSTEO for flights (scheduled to begin in autumn 2021)

　This flight was the perfect opportunity for the joint-owners of the jet, JBA and euglena to announce a new initiative in which customers will be able to choose to use SUSTEO as an option when they apply for public charter flights with the HondaJet Elite, which is scheduled to begin service in autumn 2021.
　Euglena will continue to provide JBA with SUSTEO so that they can conduct flights that use SUSTEO when customers who use charter flights choose to use this type of fuel. In addition, Euglena anticipates that approximately 12 public charter flights will be used in the first year from autumn 2021 and so has prepared a system that can provide enough renewable fuel should every customer wish to use SUSTEO. Euglena will continue to provide this renewable fuel to meet the needs of their customers in the future.
　Moreover, euglena is planning to set up a special webpage on the euglena website very soon to provide information about public charter flights that use SUSTEO.

Image of Euglena's special site

　Euglena made the “GREEN OIL JAPAN” declaration, which aims to make Japan a leading producer of renewable fuels, after completing the construction of Japan’s first biofuel manufacturing demonstration plant at the end of October 2018, and has been striving to introduce biofuel for use in land, sea and air transportation. In March 2020, Euglena completed the development of and started to supply SUSTEO diesel fuel, and there has been an increase in adopting biodiesel fuel at gas stations and similar facilities for general consumers and for use in buses, delivery vehicles, ferries and tugboats.
　In August 2020, Japan’s national research organization, the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), selected Euglena’s renewable jet fuel production technology development project, which involves the development of microalgae-based technology and the building of a supply chain model through demonstration, as a public-offering model project*3. In response to this, Euglena has been promoting technological development in the production of microalgae as a raw material for fuel as well as developing a complete supply chain from raw material procurement to fuel manufacturing technology and the supply of fuel, with the intent of operating a biofuel manufacturing commercial plant by 2025.^*3. In response to this, euglena has been promoting technological development in the production of microalgae as a raw material for fuel as well as developing a complete supply chain from raw material procurement to fuel manufacturing technology and the supply of fuel, with the intent of operating a biofuel manufacturing commercial plant by 2025.
*3 Press release dated October 5, 2020 https://www.euglena.jp/news/20201005-2/

　In terms of Euglena’s renewable jet fuel manufacturing, in March 2021, Euglena completed development of the SUSTEO jet fuel, which is a significant step toward achieving flights using renewable jet fuel made in Japan. After conducting the first flight using renewable jet fuel on June 4 with the Citation CJ4, a flight inspection aircraft owned by the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau which is a division of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), the flight this time is the second jet plane to fly using Euglena’s renewable jet fuel. This is the first time that SUSTEO has been used in a commercial aircraft. Euglena will continue to work on popularizing the use of SUSTEO from here on with the goal of achieving a sustainable society in which the use of biofuel is the norm even for general consumers.

● Special teaser site about the option to use SUSTEO in private jet flights
https://online.euglena.jp/shop/pages/biofuel.aspx

● About Euglena’s biofuel manufacturing demonstration plant
　Construction of Japan’s first biofuel manufacturing demonstration plant was completed on October 31, 2018. With the completion of this demonstration plant, Euglena declared its vision of “GREEN OIL JAPAN,” which aims to make Japan as a leading producer of renewable fuels, with the support of Yokohama City, Chiyoda Corporation, Itochu Enex, Isuzu Motors, All Nippon Airways, and the Hiroshima Council for the Promotion of Collaboration between Government, Academia and the Automobile Industry (HIROJIREN)https://euglena.jp/news/20181102-2/).

＜About Japan Biz Aviation Co., Ltd.＞
Japan Biz Aviation acquired air transport services and aerial work services in June 2018, and then went on to introduce a scheme to jointly take ownership of the first HondaJet Elite plane in March 2019 among other projects with the goal of popularizing general aviation within Japan. The company has been developing its business with a focus on improving convenience, comfort and service provision while reversing conventional concepts about business jets and helicopters within Japan. They intend to incorporate the Honda Aircraft HA420 (HondaJet) into their business fleet around autumn 2021. (http://www.j-bizavi.com/）

＜Introducing Kotaro Chiba, the owner and representative of JBA＞
Kotaro Chiba retired in 2016 from his position as the executive vice-president of COLOPL, Inc. after helping the company to be listed as an IPO on the Mothers Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. He is active as an angel investor for both Japanese and foreign businesses in the Internet and Real Tech industries (over 60 start-ups and 50 venture capital firms). He also established DRONE FUND in 2017 and manages Chiba Dojo, a community of entrepreneurs from the businesses he invests in.
In April 2019, he was appointed as a special guest professor at Keio University SFC. In December 2018, he jointly purchased the first HondaJet Elite, a Japan-built passenger aircraft, together with Takafumi Horie and other associates. He has also acquired his own private pilot license.

＜About Euglena Co., Ltd.＞
In 2005, Euglena succeeded in establishing the world’s first outdoor mass cultivation technology for microalgae Euglena for food use. In addition to developing and selling products that include functional foods and cosmetics that utilize Euglena and Chlorella, Euglena conducts research in producing biofuel and provides genome analysis services. Euglena has also been expanding eligible products for the “Euglena GENKI Program” to all Group products including cosmetics since April 2019. This program has been running since 2014 and delivers nutrient-rich Euglena cookies to children in Bangladesh. The company was also listed on the Mothers Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December 2012 and subsequently updated to the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December 2014. Euglena has been developing its business based on the Euglena philosophy of “Sustainability First”. https://euglena.jp

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―Media & Press Contact―
Corporate Communication Section, 
Euglena Co., Ltd.