Biofuels Future for Aviation
Monday, November 9, 2009 at 06:55PM
Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO, recently met the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to present the industry strategy and targets.
In the meeting, the UN Secretary-General commended the aviation industry’s commitment to contribute to the global fight against climate change and encouraged that these commitments be followed by concrete actions. He stressed the importance of addressing emissions from international aviation and shipping if the world is to achieve its goal of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions to a level that avoids dangerous climate change.
Mr Bisignani singled out sustainable biofuels as an example of optimism in future reductions.
"The three biggest opportunities for emissions reductions are technology, infrastructure and sustainable biofuels. Of these, sustainable biofuels are the most exciting because for the first time air transport has the possibility of an alternative to traditional jet fuel," he said.
"Our attention is on camelina, jatropha and algae which do not compete for land or water with food crops but have the potential to reduce our carbon footprint by up to 80%. Because they can be grown in almost any soil condition or in salt water or even waste water they have the potential to create new industries and livelihoods by bringing sustainable energy production jobs to many of the least developed parts of the planet," Mr Bisignani added.
Four test flights with sustainable biofuels have proven that they meet the technical and safety standards for use in commercial aviation.
Moreover, they can be blended with jet fuel and used in today’s aircraft and engines.
“Progress is going at a much faster pace than anybody anticipated. Three years ago sustainable biofuels were a dream. Now we expect certification no later than 2011,” said Mr Bisignani.
TheBioenergySite News Desk