Biofuels & novel fuels News
Below are links to stories about aviation biofuels.
Green fuels cause more harm than fossil fuels, according to report
Using fossil fuel in vehicles is better for the environment than so-called green fuels made from crops, according to a government study. The findings show that the DfT’s target for raising the level of biofuel in all fuel sold in Britain will result in millions of acres of forest being logged or burnt down and converted to plantations. The study finds some of the most commonly-used biofuel crops fail to meet the minimum EC sustainability standards. (Times)
Click here to view full story...
BA agrees deal for UK jet biofuel plant
BA is hoping to produce jet fuel from London's waste, with a plant to be completed in 2014. The waste would be fed into a high temperature "gasifier" to produce BioSynGas, and then the Fischer Tropsch to produce biofuel. They hope it will produce 16 millions of gallons of fuel per year, which BA says is twice that needed for flights from London City airport, ad 2% of its flights from Heathrow. Conversion into fuel prevents methane release to the atmosphere. (BBC)
Click here to view full story...
Abu Dhabi to host major research institution and demonstration project for “sustainable” aviation biofuels
Boeing, The Masdar Institute, Etihad and Honeywell’s UOP have agreed to establish a research institution and demonstration project in Abu Dhabi. It aims to use integrated saltwater agricultural systems to support the development and commercialization of biofuel sources for aviation and others. It plans to use aquaculture effluents to fertilise plants like mangrove and salicornia, to make biofuel that does not compete with food. (GreenAir)
Click here to view full story...
Airlines looking at Biofuel to reduce oil dependency
Many airlines are looking at alternative fuels to reduce their oil dependence. Now 15 major airlines and air-cargo companies said they are negotiating to buy billions of gallons of fuels made from vegetable oil, coal and petroleum coke. Some claim lower CO2 emissions, as this is injected into a USA Gulf Coast oil reserve, in order to pump out more oil. (Flights and Fares)
Click here to view full story...
Biofuels Consultation: can they fuel our lifestyle without taking food from the poor?
Click here to view full story...
KLM’s First (one eighth) Biofuel Flight Takes Off
KLM has operated its first passenger flight powered by "sustainable biokerosene." During the 1.5 hour flight above the Netherlands, one engine of the Boeing 747 ran on a mixture of 50% biofuel from camelina, and 50% traditional kerosene. The other 3 engines ran on 100% normal kerosene. KLM said the biofuel used on the flight "reduces CO2 emissions by up to 80% compared to conventional kerosene." They plan to get certification by the end of 2010.
Click here to view full story...
KLM schedules 1st biofuel test flight with passengers using a camelina blended bio-kerosene
KLM has announced that it will conduct a demonstration flight on November 23 in which one of the 4 engines of a Boeing 747 will be powered by a blended mixture of 50% camelina and 50% standard Jet A1 kerosene. The airline is claiming a world first as passengers will be carried for the first time on a biofuel flight. Camelina was also used in a JAL flight in January. KLM claims the camelina fuel reduced carbon emissions by 84%. (Green air online)
Click here to view full story...
Massive increase in global biofuel production
Click here to view full story...
Airline claims first with flight by natural gas
Qatar Airways said it had put paying passengers on a flight powered by fuel made from natural gas for the first time, in what could be an important step in the industry’s attempts to lower dependence on oil-based fuel. Shell developed the 50-50 blend of synthetic gas-to-liquids (GTL) kerosene and conventional oil-based kerosene used on the flight. An AEF member said GTL was useful for local airport air quality but has a higher carbon footprint than ordinary fuel. (FT)
Click here to view full story...
Greenwash: why biofuels are just hot air
Ben Webster shows that the aviation industry's hope of a "get out of jail free" card, of using biofuels to let them continue expanding, is false. Sustainable sources of biofuel may be developed, but not in time to give airlines the get-out-of-jail-free card they want to wave in Copenhagen in December. In May, IATA claimed that 1% of aviation fuel could be biofuel by 2015. Then last month, IATA said that it was aiming for 10% biofuel by 2017. But how? (Times)