Biofuels & novel fuels News
Below are links to stories about aviation biofuels.
Airbus and BA form consortium with Cranfield to explore feasibility of offshore algae for jet fuel production
Airbus and BA are to take part in a project set to explore how algae can be harvested in ocean-based facilities to produce jet fuel in commercial quantities. The SURF consortium has been set along with Rolls-Royce, Finnair, Gatwick Airport and IATA. The university already has a pilot facility on campus that is growing and processing algae for biofuels and hopes to produce the first commercial quantities of biomass for biofuels within 3 years. (GreenAir)
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South African flight using Sasol coal to liquid synthetic fuel
Sasol has provided fuel, from a coal to liquids process, for "the world's first jet flight using fully synthetic fuel". It said a passenger aircraft using its own-developed and internationally approved fuel made the flight from Gauteng to Cape Town. However, the carbon emissions from its manufacture are very high, and Sasol is aware is can only be viable if there is effective carbon capture and storage. CTL is very unlikely to be a helpful strategy for the industry.
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UN urges aviation sector to slash carbon emissions
UN climate chief Christiana Figueres has urged the air transport industry to press on with curbs on emissions, underlining that it held "critical keys" to tackling global warming. IATA has set targets of 1.5% a year increases in fuel efficiency by 2020, carbon neutral growth thereafter and a 50% cut in carbon emissions by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. Worryingly this is encouraging more use of biofuels for aviation - for the supposed "carbon neutral" growth.
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Farnborough airshow: aviation industry “optimism” grows over future use of biofuels
The aviation industry has expressed its optimism for future "carbon neutral growth" using biofuels. Exhibitors at the United Alternative Aviation Fuels Display - algae-derived oil producer Solazyme, bioenergy company Solena and Honeywell unit UOP - spent the week "trying to ensure the aviation community gives visibility" to biofuel producers. Their plan is an algae derived fuel that grows in the dark using a carbohydrate food source. Worrying.
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BA and Solena plan to “create 1,200 London jobs” at biofuels plant
BA hopes to source much of the aviation fuel needed by one or other London airport from a waste-to-biofuels plant in east London, which will burn plastics, paper and food leftovers - which are not recycled in a better way. Two potential locations near Dagenham have been proposed. 200 jobs might be created at the factory. BA hopes to buy 16 million gallons of fuel for 10 years and hopes production could start in 2014. Solena is seeking sources of finance.
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EADS sets 1st public algae-biofuel flight at ILA air show in Berlin
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BP oil spill shows need for biofuels, developers say
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has encouraged the biofuel industry to press for even greater use of, and investment in, their fuels. They say oils produced on land do not have the risks of oil extracted from deep under the sea. The industry wants to develop cellulosic and algae biofuels but the economic downturn, uncertainty in global financial markets and the lack of long-term U.S government support has made it hard for them to raise capital.
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China to launch first aviation biofuel flight this year
China will launch its first flight using aviation biofuel this year after signing an agreement with US aviation giant Boeing in Beijing. Boeing agreed to collaborate on the launch with Air China and PetroChina,which will provide the jatropha-based fuel feedstock for the project. The new fuel was expected to be commercially viable within 3 - 5 years, by when they want to see biofuel as a portion of fuel in commercial aviation but "a lot has to be done first".
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Lufthansa to use biofuel on flights by 2012
Lufthansa is set to become one of the world's first airlines to mix biofuel with traditional kerosene on commercial flights as carriers seek ways to cut soaring fuel costs. It plans to start running its engines on some flights on a mix of biofuel and kerosene within 2 years, and use it regularly on some flights, rather than do a specific test flight. Air France - KLM aims to use biofuel from 2011. Airlines hope biofuels will save them money. (Reuters)
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EADS Backs Algae As Future Biofuel
Airbus' parent company EADS is backing algae as the best source of sustainable jet fuel, arguing that other feedstocks will not allow the airline industry to meet its carbon-footprint reduction goals. EADS does not believe 2nd-generation, plant-derived biofuels offer sufficient life-cycle, CO2 reductions to replace petroleum-based jet fuel and only algae can be produced without competing with food for land or water or creating CO2 outputs. (Aviation Week)