Biofuels & novel fuels News
Below are links to stories about aviation biofuels.
Biofuel “could be an alternative to fossil-based jet fuel” – Romanian camelina
Date added: 25 March, 2011
A consortium of companies led by TAROM Romanian Air Transport, including Honeywell’s UOP, CCE (Camelina Company España), and Airbus, is to spearhead the commercialisation of a biofuel from a weed-like plant. It aims to provide a biofuel made from the camelina plant as a substitute to fossil-based jet fuel.
Camelina was chosen because it has energy potential and is indigenous to Romania. It can be theoretically be farmed and harvested by family farmers.
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Lufthansa biofuel flights postponed by certification delay
Date added: 18 February, 2011
Lufthansa has been forced to postpone its planned commercial biofuel flights by at least
a month because the fuel will not be certified in time by regulators. It planned to begin a 6-month trial in April, in which it aims to operate its Frankfurt-Hamburg
route using an International Aero Engine-powered Airbus A321 with one of its engines running on a 50/50 blend of biofuel from vegetable
oil and traditional kerosene. Now pushed back to end of May.
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Boeing hopes biofuel could be 1% of global aviation fuel by 2015
Date added: 15 February, 2011
Boeing hopes aviation biofuels will be practical by around 2015. A Boeing director
said the company is working with others throughout the industry toward having
1% (about 16 million gallons) of all aviation fuel come from non-petroleum sources
by then. The industry hopes to become "carbon neutral" by 2020 but only if it
can use low carbon fuels. It hopes (probably unrealistically) that biofuels will
be the magic bullet to allow growth as usual.
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BP enters aviation biofuels in Brazil (jatropha, soy, sugarcane?)
Date added: 2 February, 2011
In Brazil TAM Airlines in conjunction with Airbus, jatropha biofuel producer
Brasil Ecodiesel, and AirBP are jointly developing a bio-SPK (Synthetic Paraffinic
Kerosene) manufacturing facility with a 80,000 ton per year capacity that is expected
to come online in 2013. in addition to the jatropha and soy biodiesel production
there is a substantial influx of US advanced biofuels technologies based in the
conversion of sugarcane to diesel and jet fuel.
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Air China plans transpacific jatropha biofuel test flight in 2011
Date added: 2 February, 2011
Air China said it plans to operate a transpacific demonstration flight partially
powered by biofuel in the 2nd half of 2011. CA is expected to use a Boeing 747
powered by Pratt & Whitney engines on the test flight. Boeing has agreed to
partner with CA to provide technical support. PetroChina will provide jatropha-based
fuel. The flight would follow a number of biofuel test flights including Air New
Zealand, Continental Airlines, Japan Airlines and TAM.
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Finnair postpones introduction of biofuel
Date added: 1 February, 2011
In December, Finnair announced it was in discussion with Nesté Oil to buy jet
fuels made from logging waste. Their decision would depend on avialability, commercial
viability etc. Now Finnair has decided against using this biofuel in some flights
this year, on grounds of cost and sustainability. They are still interested if
fuel can be produced from local wood chips. However these fuels are more costly
than kerosene.
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Shell exits algae as it commences “Year of Choices”
Date added: 31 January, 2011
Last week Shell announced that it will will exit its shareholding in Cellana,
a joint venture between Shell and HR Biopetroleum. In 2007, HRBP and Royal Dutch
Shell had formed Cellana as a separate joint venture to build and operate a demonstration
facility to grow marine algae and produce vegetable oil for conversion into biofuel.
Shell said it will "narrow its research paths in advanced biofuels from 10 advanced
technologies to 5 in 2011".
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New report by Friends of the Earth Europe says Jatropha fails to deliver
Date added: 21 January, 2011
The new report says the much-touted biofuel crop jatropha is neither a profitable nor a sustainable investment.
It provides growing evidence that the crop is failing to deliver on its promises
while simultaneously failing to prevent climate change or contribute to pro-poor
development. Many projects have already been abandoned because yields have stayed
below expectations, even on good soils. They say companies should stop land-grabbing
for jatropha. (FoE)
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Masdar, Boeing, Etihad, UOP complete seawater biofuels feasibility
Date added: 21 January, 2011
In the UAE a group of companies have announced completion of a Sustainability
Assessment of the Integrated Seawater Agriculture System (ISAS) production of
aviation biofuels and other bioresources. They say this study makes a significant
contribution to current knowledge on the viability of using salt-tolerant plants
irrigated with seawater as a sustainable feedstock for biofuels. The research
is on the halophyte Salicornia bigelovii
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State of Washingon to focus on aviation biofuel from wood waste
Date added: 14 January, 2011
If state legislation is approved, the Washington State Department of Natural
Resources could develop a pilot project targeting the creation of aviation biofuel
from wood waste. The state department of commerce, Boeing and the Port of Seattle
are all behind the pilot project, which is the next step in the Forest Biomass
Initiative which has been used to establish four pilot projects from different
areas in the state
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