KLM to invest in major sustainable aviation fuel plant in Delfzijl

DutchNews, May 27, 2019

Photo: DutchNews.nl

Dutch flag carrier KLM is to invest millions of euros in the first European industrial plant to produce sustainable aviation fuel, also known as bio-kerosene. 

The production plan will be located in Delfzijl, in the north of Groningen, and will specialise in producing sustainable fuels using waste products such as used cooking oil as feedstock. 

The plant will open in 2022 and is a ‘concrete step towards fulfilling KLM’s sustainability ambitions and contributing to the broader industry plan,’ the airline said. 

The plant will be owned and operated by SkyNRG, which claims to be the global market leader in sustainable aviation fuel and was set up by KLM with partners in 2010. 

SHV Energy, global leader in LPG distribution, will invest in the facility and will purchase the bioLPG which the plant produces. Amsterdam’s state-owned airport Schiphol will also be investing in the development of the factory, KLM said.

‘By joining hands with other parties, we can build a plant that will accelerate the development of sustainable aviation fuel,’ KLM chief executive Pieter Elbers said. 

From 2022, the plant will produce 100,000 tonnes a year, of which KLM will purchase 75,000 tonnes. This, Elbers said, will reduce the company’s CO2 emissions by 200,000 tonnes a year, which is equal to the emissions released by 1,000 KLM flights between Amsterdam and Rio de Janeiro.

Should you fill up your car with E5 or E10, and is there a difference?

DutchNews, October 12, 2018

Photo: Depositphotos.com 

Moves to standardise the names of different types of fuel come into effect in the Netherlands on Friday, but the old names will stay for some time to give drivers time to get used to the change. 

From Friday the names for petrol, diesel and LPG at petrol stations will be the same throughout Europe as well as in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Macedonia, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey. The aim is to make it easier for people to opt for the right fuel when abroad.

In total some some 150,000 stickers have been handed out to 4,000 petrol stations nationwide to alert drivers to the new names. 

Standard unleaded fuel will now be known as E5 or E10 depending on the ethanol percentage added to the fuel. 

E10 is due to be the standard by 2020, but motoring organisation ANWB  has warned it is not suitable for cars built before 2000. Car owners can check here if their cars are suited to E10 or whether they have to use an alternative fuel. 

Petrol stations in Germany, France and Belgium have already switched to E10 and are phasing out E5/Euro95. The Netherlands is lagging behind but will be up to speed before 2020, the ANWB said.

KLM-backed bio-kerosene plant may open in the Netherlands

DutchNews, September 18, 2018 

Aviation is a major source of carbon-dioxide emissions. Photo: DutchNews.nl 

The Netherlands is on the verge of getting its first factory to produce bio-kerosene, an alternative fuel to tradition kerosene and made out of biomass, the AD said on Tuesday. 

A location for the plant has not yet been confirmed but Groningen is on the shortlist, the paper said. 

The plans have been confirmed by Maarten van Dijk, director of SkyNRG, which will build the factory. ‘We are in the last phase of selecting the location and suppliers. I think that we will be able to reveal more at the end of this year or beginning of the next,’ he told the paper. 

Rotterdam and Amsterdam are being considered as alternative locations. 

Airline KLM is a important shareholder in SkyNRG and has also confirmed that plans for the factory are being made. The airline currently imports bio-kerosine from Los Angeles and it uses the fuel mainly on its fights to the American east coast. 

The AD says there are no other bio-kerosines plants in north-west Europe and that the investment will create a large number of jobs. 

Pollution 

Passenger air traffic is currently responsible for between 2% and 3% of global carbon-dioxide emissions, but in the Netherlands, the figure is 7%, the AD said. 

Bio-kerosine is made from leftovers from the timber and agricultural industries, as well as the food processing industry. Wageningen University said earlier this year that bio-kerosene is a potentially important option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the aviation sector. 

However, the price is two to three times that of ordinary kerosene and ‘the direct and indirect effects… on the aviation sector and the Dutch economy as a whole depend to a large extent on how the additional costs of biokerosene will be funded,’ University researchers said.

'Reverse photosynthesis' could change fuel production

Researchers in Denmark have discovered that a certain enzyme causes sunlight to break down the chemical bonds in plants. The finding could improve industrial processes such as the production of biofuels.

Deutsche Welle, 17 April 2016

Photosynthesis is a process in which plants convert sunlight into chemical energy that can be later released as fuel. But now, a group of scientists from the University of Copenhagen have found that adding an enzyme called monooxygenase to the process causes sunlight to break down plant material instead of helping create it. They refer to this phenomenon as "reverse photosynthesis."

The discovery could be applied to processes that require the breakdown of chemical bonds, such as the production of bioethanol, which is made from biomass via a fermentation process.

In a press release, Professor Claus Felby from the Plant Science Centre at the University of Copenhagen, the head of the study, called the discovery a "game changer" that could transform the production of fuels and chemicals, increasing efficiency and decreasing pollution.

Great usage potential

The first step to producing bioethanol is breaking down cellulose, an organic material that forms the walls in plant cells. This is exactly what happens when monooxygenase is added to the photosynthesis process.

Ethanol is widely used as engine fuel

"Basically, we have found a new way of using solar energy - going directly from sunlight to chemistry," Felby told DW. "This opens up a lot of possibilities."

The scientists' lab tests indicated that applying this process resulted in much faster production of ethanol and at lower temperatures. The duration of some of the chemical reactions was reduced from hours to minutes when sunlight was involved.

Ethanol has a multitude of uses in the modern world, mostly as engine fuel, but also as an ingredient in medical and personal care products.

The team also found that the same process can be applied to oxidizing methane. This produces methanol, a key ingredient in the manufacture of different chemicals.

"Methanol currently requires very large and expensive steel units to produce," explained Felby. "If our method was applied to this process, you would only need small, simple production units, something similar to a greenhouse."

Need to test large-scale application

While the process has proven effective in a lab environment, the scientists need to do further research to determine how it would work in real life.

"We are now working on exploring this," David Cannella, a co-author of the study, told DW. "You need to make sure that sunlight penetrates the organic material that you are converting, and we still need to work out how to do this."

Cannella feels optimistic about the commercial applicability of the process, as does Felby.

"We have to determine the exact amount of light needed for the process and how and when to apply it," said Felby. "But that's just a question of engineering."

He added that going directly from sunlight to chemical energy results in very little energy loss: "It's a near-perfect process."

Hainan Airlines marks China's first passenger flight with biofuel

Want ChinaTimes, Xinhua 2015-03-22

The Boeing 737 is loaded with biofuel before the flight from Shanghai Hongqiao
International Airport, March 21. (Photo/Xinhua)

Hainan Airlines announced on Saturday it has completed China's first passenger flight with sustainable biofuel, a milestone for the country's commercial aviation industry.

The flight, which carried more than 100 passengers from Shanghai to Beijing in a Boeing 737, used biofuel made by Sinopec from waste cooking oil collected from restaurants in China.

The airplane's two engines were powered by the fuel blended of approximately half biofuel and half traditional jet fuel, the company said.

"We are honored to see our flight with safe and effective biofuel," said Pu Ming, vice president of Hainan Airlines, also the flight's pilot.

Boeing has been collaborating with Chinese airlines to develop aviation biofuel industry. In 2011, Air China conducted China's first test flight with aviation biofuel in a Boeing 747.

UK's first 'poo bus' goes into regular service

Bio-Bus fuelled by human and household waste, which first ran between Bristol and Bath, will operate 15-mile route four days a week

The Guardian, Press Association, Sunday 15 March 2015

Bristol’s Bio Bus runs on faeces and household waste. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

Britain’s first “poo bus”, which runs on human and household waste, goes into regular service later this month.

Powered by biomethane gas, the Bio-Bus will use waste from more than 32,000 households along its 15-mile route.

Operated by First West of England, the bus will fill up at a site in Avonmouth, Bristol, where sewage and inedible food waste is turned into biomethane gas.

The bus, which can seat up to 40 people, was unveiled last autumn. First is showing the bus in Bristol on Tuesday before it starts operating four days a week from 25 March.

If the route is successful, First will consider introducing more “poo buses”. The managing director, James Freeman, said: “Since its original unveiling last year, the Bio-Bus has generated worldwide attention and so it’s our great privilege to bring it to the city.

“The Bio-Bus previously made an appearance running between Bath and Bristol airport at the end of last year, but it’s only actually been used once before in the centre of Bristol itself.

“The very fact that it’s running in the city should help to open up a serious debate about how buses are best fuelled, and what is good for the environment.”

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Biofuels present investment gold for aviation industry

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-06-20

A Boeing 777, part of the American Airlines fleet, at Shanghai Pudong
International Airport. (Photo/CNS)

Aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus are seeing growing business opportunities in introducing sustainable jet fuels amid global efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of aviation, reports Guangzhou's 21st Century Business Herald.

The market for aviation biofuels is estimated to be worth hundreds of billions of US dollars, and two manufacturers are eager to get a headstart by linking supply and demand by establishing relationships among feedstock growers and producers, biofuel producers, distributors and airlines.

The race has already begun, the paper said. On May 19, an Airbus A330-200 from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (flight KL767) commenced the longest ever commercial flight by an Airbus aircraft using sustainable jet fuel. The aircraft used a 20% blend of sustainable fuel made from used cooking oil, for a 10 hour flight from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba.

According to Airbus, the flight was the first in a series of around 20 long-haul commercial flights using an Airbus aircraft as part of the European initiative called ITAKA (Initiative Towards Sustainable Kerosene for Aviation), which aims to speed up the commercialization of aviation biofuels in Europe.

The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), a government-owned aerospace manufacturer established to reduce the country's dependence on Boeing and Airbus, has also sensed the business opportunities presented by biofuels.

The aviation industry in China consumed some 20 million tonnes of jet fuel every year, while nearly 30 million tonnes of used cooking oil is available, said COMAC vice president Shi Jianzhong. From this perspective, China was well-positioned to tap into the new business, he added.

Current technology suggests that for each tonne of used cooking oil, 90% can be turned into biofuel, while about half of that amount could then be used as jet fuel. Meanwhile, the cost of non-petroleum based fuels is about two to three times more than traditional fuels, the paper said.

Aviation biofuel goes into commercial use in China

Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-02-14

Sinopec's company logo. (Photo/Xinhua)

China started commercial use of aviation biofuel on Wednesday, in a bid to ease fuel pressure and cut carbon emissions.

China's top oil refiner, Sinopec, was given a license allowing commercial use of its aviation biofuel, said the Civil Aviation Administration of China. The license, the first of its kind, permits Sinopec's No. 1 Aviation Biofuel to be used by airlines, some of which have showed willingness to cooperate with the refiner.

Xu Chaoqun, deputy head of CAAC's Flight Criteria Department, said the development is a significant breakthrough for research, production and use of aviation biofuel. The development also makes China the fourth country in the world to produce aviation biofuel, after the United States, France and Finland.

Sinopec started research on aviation biofuel in 2009, and its application for commercial use was accepted by CAAC in early 2012. Last April, a test flight in Shanghai powered by the biofuel was a success, and the fuel went through several rounds of more strict tests before it was given the green light.

Sinopec can produce 3,000 tonnes of such oil a year, from materials like rape seed, cotton seed and wasted cooking oil. The refiner is also considering joining with private enterprise in planting, collecting and processing materials, after working with McDonald's to collect cooking oil.

"Aviation biofuel is one of the major trends in global aviation," said Xu. "With our research on aviation biofuel, we have built a set of technological standards, and will have a bigger say in international carbon emission reduction." Research shows that carbon dioxide generated by biofuel is 45% or less than that produced by conventional fuel.

The International Air Transport Association forecast that 30% of aviation fuel will be biofuel by 2020, and a few western airlines have been testing commercial flights with biofuel since 2008.

China is the world's largest oil importer and 58.1% of its 2013 supply relied on imports.

With an annual consumption of nearly 20 million tonnes, China has become the second largest aviation fuel consumer and demand is estimated to be expanding by 10% every year, while the global average is less than 5%. By contrast, the country has abundant biofuel-refining resources: vast areas of oil-rich plants and a huge amount of wasted cooking oil. However, analysts said there may be a long way to go until large-scale application of aviation biofuel due to costs.

Xu Hui, vice director of Sinopec's Science and Technology Department, said the production costs of aviation biofuel are two to three times those of crude oil. He said some three tonnes of wasted cooking oil can generate one tonne of biofuel, and collecting cooking waste suitable for refining is expensive.

Refiners and airlines have to split the cost, and the final price will be determined by the market based on emission-cutting efforts and an application scale, according to Xu with Sinopec.

"The most important thing for now is to diversify biofuel sources and upgrade technology," said CAAC's Xu.

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Taiwan researchers turn waste cooking oil into biodiesel

Want China Times, CNA 2013-11-02

Biodiesel, left, that was produced from waste cooking oil, right. (Photo/Huang Wenpo)

Using microwaves with strontium oxide as a catalyst, researchers at National Cheng Kung University in southern Taiwan have developed a way to turn waste cooking oil into biodiesel, a method they say they will share with local businesses for mass production of biodiesel within a year.

The university's professor Liao Jiunn-der and visiting professor Aharon Gedanken of Israel announced their findings on Thursday from the university in Tainan.

With the catalyst, kitchen waste can be turned into biodiesel and glycerol in a modified microwave oven in the space of 10-40 seconds, they said. The strontium oxide can then be reused, making the production method highly efficient, according to Liao.

The process can turn waste into a resource that contributes to the environment and economy, especially in Taiwan, where cooking and eating habits mean local restaurants, homes and schools produce a considerable amount of waste oil, noted Gedanken.

Liao hopes that the new method will help Taiwan, where diesel fuel currently consists of 2%-3% biodiesel, to meet the predictions of the European Union, which forecast that biodiesel will make up 20% of diesel by the year 2020.

The university is working on filing a patent for the technique, he said.

The modified microwave developed by Gedanken is able to handle an estimated 500 kilograms of waste oil per day, according to Liao.

The results proved that the transesterification of waste cooking oil into biodiesel using strontium oxide as a catalyst is a commercially viable way of decreasing the costs of biodiesel production, he added.

Biofueled Airbus makes air show entrance

France24 – AFP, 20 June 2013

An Airbus A321 aircraft using Biojet A-1 Total/Amyris, a biofuel produced from
 an innovative sugar-processing technology, is parked on the tarmac at Le Bourget
airport, near Paris on June 20, 2013 during the 50th International Paris Air Show.

AFP - An Airbus airliner flew from southern France to the Paris Air Show on Thursday with one fuel tank partially filled with farnesane, a biofuel made from sugar cane as the industry experiments with green technology.

The gambit was to show that the fast-growing air transport sector is eager for clean fuels, but the ability for green fuels to compete with petroleum-based kerosene that spews tonnes of CO2 and other pollutants into the atmosphere remains way off.

The sugar fuel was developed by Amyris, a US company owned by the French oil major Total, and could be on the market starting next year.

Other key partners in the demonstration were Air France and Safran, which built the engine used in the test.

"Technically there are solutions, but economically it has not taken off, that is for sure," said Pierre Porot, a biofuel specialist at the French institute IFP Energies Nouvelles.

Parked on the Le Bourget airport tarmac, the A321 looked quite similar to more conventional passenger planes and attracted hardly as much attention as the sleek combat jets sitting nearby.

It was only the second time a plane has flown with this kind of fuel, the first being in Brazil, where Total produces farnesane.

The flight, which lasts about an hour when commercial planes make it, used 10 percent farnesane, consuming about four tonnes of sugar cane.

But developers said use of sugar for fuel would not affect food markets, a usual complaint against biofuel technology..

"Sugar cane is not considered a food product by the (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization, it does not compete therefore with food sources," said Philippe Marchand, head of Total's biofuel unit.

For now however the main issue is cost.

Experts contacted by AFP estimated that existing "biokerosenes" cost between 30 and 50 percent more than the normal fuel.

So while airlines like Lufthansa and KLM have begun to incorporate biofuels in their operations, and a flight using only biofuel took place in Canada late last year, no carriers use it in significant quantities.

"Test flights are easy because they need only a few thousand litres of fuel," noted Claire Curry, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

"But to obtain large quantities you have to build refineries costing $200-300 million and the problem is finding the money," she said.

Total's Marchand is not deterred however, and once the new fuel has been certified, he intends to expand production facilities to Europe.

"French beet farmers are very interested in diversifying their activities because of the weakness in the ethanol market," he said.

Philippe Boisseau, head of Total's New Energies division said: "In four to five years, the goal is to make the fuel with non-edible parts of plants. To transform cellulose into non-food sugars that are then turned into biojet" fuels.

Other possible end products include biodiesel, cosmetics, medicines and even perfumes.

The cost issue could reverse meanwhile, because standard kerosene prices and carbon taxes will likely climb higher, forcing airlines to come up with alternatives.

Major aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus, Boeing and Embraer have said they are mulling joint programmes to develop biokerosene, since their futures also depend on a sustained source of jet fuels.

Environmental groups are bringing pressure to the air industry too. On Thursday, the French activist group Reseau Action Climat denounced the pollution generated by constantly growing traffic.

"Flying is the most polluting means of transport. Measured by passenger and by kilometre travelled, it is three times worse for the climate than cars," the group said.

Total hopes to have its farnesane fuel certified by the end of the year, and possibly have planes flying with sugar-based fuel in 2014.

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Mind the sleigh! Airlines given permission to fly over North Pole for the first time slashing the hours to exotic destinations

Daily Mail, by Ray Massey, Transport Editor, 24 Dec 2011

• Long-haul flight times reduced by up to 50%
• 'Whole new world opened up,' says Branson

Air passengers will be able to cut the times of long-haul flights by as much as half and fly faster to exotic destinations under a new relaxation of aviation rules.

It could also mean cheaper and cleaner flights for British holidaymakers.

The new rules will allow carriers operating in the South Pacific, to take a 'short cut' over the North Pole for the first time.

Shorter flights: A British Airways Boeing 777 which will be able to
take a 'short cut' over the North pole

While passenger jets from Australia to South America will be able to fly the most direct routes.

FLIGHTS FROM LONDON

• Fiji (10,000 miles) - current time via Los Angles or Seoul: 24 hours. New time: 18 hours non-stop using 'polar express' short cut.
• Tahiti (9,600 miles) via Los Angeles: 23 hours. New time: 17 hours.
• Honolulu (7,300 miles) via Los Angeles: 18 hours. New time: 13 hours.
• Anchorage (4,500 miles) via Seattle: 16 hours. New time: 8 hours

Until now, Boeing’s 777 and the new 787 ‘Dreamliner’ jets had for safety reasons to stay within a  three hour range (180 minutes) of the nearest diversion airport.

Under the new rules, that has been nearly doubled to five and a half hours, (330 minutes) taking account of improvements in aircraft and engine  technology.

It means, for example, that planes from the UK  will be able to take a non-stop flight - dubbed 'Santa's short cut' - over  the North Pole to destinations such as Hawaii, Alaska or French Polynesia.

It also means shorter journeys, cheaper flights, less fuel, and lower emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) - the so-called greenhouse gas’ blamed for global warming.

The ‘extended operations’ rules define the time that an aircraft is permitted to be from an emergency landing site in case of an engine failure and is applied to two-engine jets.

It follows a decision  by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to allow up  to 330-minutes ‘extended operations’ for Boeings'  777 fleet.

Frozen: An aerial view of the North Pole which passenger carriers
will now be able to fly over to exotic destinations

It allows airlines operating Boeing  777-300ER (extended range), 777-200LR (longer range), 777 Freighter and 777-200ER models equipped with General Electric engines to fly up to 330 minutes from a potential ‘diversion’ airport.

Approval for the Boeing 777-200ER equipped with British Rolls-Royce and American Pratt & Whitney engines is expected to follow over the next few months.

The first airline to take advantage of the new longer ‘extended operations’ option is Air New Zealand which earlier this month flew from Los Angeles to Auckland.

Capt. David Morgan, chief pilot for Air New Zealand said: ‘What this means is that the aeroplane  is able to fly a straighter route between pairs of cities and that's good for the environment.

‘Less fuel is burned and less carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere. It's also good for customers because flights are potentially shorter and passengers could arrive sooner at their destinations.’

Virgin Atlantic airline president Sir Richard Branson said: 'This new development really does open up a whole new world.

'Our new fleet of 787s could well be flying to Honolulu or even Fiji one day.'

Last October The European Aviation Safety Agency granted a 207-minute rating after receiving an application from Air France to fly a 777-300ER from Los Angeles to Papeete, Tahiti. The European agency is also  expected to adopt the 330-minute rule.

Planes once flew over the North Pole during the Cold War in the 1950s to avoid Communist Bloc airspace.

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Aviation could switch to low-carbon fuel 'sooner than thought'

Richard Branson said the airline industry should aim for 50% sustainable
fuels by 2020. Photograph: Mark Lennihan/AP

.

Aviation could switch to low-carbon fuel 'sooner than thought'

Richard Branson says aeroplanes have few 'filling stations' compared with other transport, making it easier to supply them

guardian.co.uk, John Vidal, environment editor, Monday 5 December 2011 

Richard Branson said the airline industry should aim for 50% sustainable
fuels by 2020. Photograph: Mark Lennihan/AP

The world's 7,000 airlines could switch to low-carbon jet fuels much faster than other transport because aeroplanes have very few "filling stations", says Richard Branson.

"Unlike cars where there are millions of filling stations, there are only about 1,700 aviation stations in the world. So if you can get the right fuel, like mass-produced algae, then getting it to 1,700 outlets is not so difficult," Branson said in an interview with the Guardian from the British Virgin islands.

Branson, who announced last month he hoped Virgin would soon be able to use waste gases from industrial steel and aluminium plants as a fuel, said the industry should aim for 50% sustainable fuels by 2020.

"I would be very disapointed if not. Once the breakthrough takles place, getting to 50-100% is not unrealistic. Aviation fuel is 25-40% of the running costs of airlines so the industry is open to new fuels."

Branson, whose Virgin group owns 51% of Virgin Atlantic Airways, was speaking in advance of the launch in Durban of RenewableJetFuels.org, an open access website that assesses and updates the progress of companies planning to produce commercial-scale renewable fuel for aviation.

It suggests that of the 40 companies claiming to have the potential to deliver large-scale amounts – about one third of them are "credible" from an economic, scalable and sustainability perspective in their current state.

In the next five years, according to the website published by business NGO Carbon War Room and academic publisher Elsevier, some renewable jet fuel companies "could be producing enough renewable fuel to replace 10-20% of the fuel of a typical mid-sized airline".

The data, said Branson, should allow airlines to accelerate linkups with fuel companies.

"Producers can continually update and re-submit data. This is then reviewed by experts, enabling RenewableJetFuels.org to be the independent, gold standard for investors and airlines in the market," said Suzanne Hunt, head of operations at Carbon War Room.

"Trying to address climate change makes business sense", said Branson, whose Virgin airline spends around $3bn a year on jet fuel.

"The jet fuel industry can charge what they like at present. New fuels will compete. You could finds the price of aviation fuel comes down."

Three years ago Virgin flew a plane to Holland on coconut fuel and no one took it seriously, said Branson. "The industry thought it was PR. BA was pretty dismissive, saying planes will never fly on bio-fuels. But it actually kickstarted thinking. Since then, even BA has started investing in new biofuels.

"We're heading in the right direction. The industry could go from one of the dirtiest to one of the cleanest in 10 years. We are investing in different companies and really beginning to see traction".

The five leading alternative jet fuel companies identified by Carbon War Room are Lanzatech, SG biofuels, AltAir, Solazyme and Sapphire.

Biofuel to power KLM flights

RNW, 22 June 2011

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Beginning in September, KLM flights between Amsterdam and Paris will run on used cooking oil. The move is an important new step towards aviation sustainability, the airline announced Wednesday.

“KLM has again shown it is stimulating the development of biokerosene,” said Managing Director Camiel Eurlings. “The route to 100 percent sustainable energy is enormously challenging. We need to move forward together to attain continuous access to sustainable fuel.”

More than 200 KLM flights will operate on biokerosene, biofuel derived from used frying oil and tested to meet the same technical specifications as traditional kerosene.

The move is part of the airline's efforts to secure a positive recommendation from the Dutch Sustainability Board. It is also an expression of support for World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) research suggesting alternative fuels from biomass are the only replacement for fossil fuels used in the airline industry.

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Garuda Indonesia Planning to Switch to Biofuel

Jakarta Globe,Fidelis E. Satriastanti, August 02, 2010

National airline Garuda Indonesia is finalizing preparations to use biofuel in an attempt to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, a senior official said on Monday.

“We are in the process of changing from avtur [aviation fuel] to biofuel. Not a single [domestic] airline has done it yet. We will be implementing this plan in stages and it will not necessarily be achieved within this year,” Garuda commissionerWendy Aritonang said.

The airline has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Air Transport Association, committing to improving air travel services as well as to using biofuel, which is produced from renewable resources like palm oil.

According to a McKinsey report, the air travel sector was responsible for about 3 percent of national carbon emissions in 2005. Land transportation contributed the most emissions — 89 percent of the total.

Jane Hupe, chief of the environmental unit of the International Civil Aviation Organization, said the idea to use biofuel in aviation has been around for years, and biofuel has since become a significant piece in the puzzle of sustainable aviation.

“We haven ever seen progress in one file for sustainable use like you see right now. Progress is so immense. The technology is there,” Hupe said.

“But the elements that we need to address include price of, course. The market needs to be prepared for this. Not only is the technology more expensive, but also how do we balance the market in regard to air ticket fares, considering the stiff competition that exists already with all airlines using normal aviation fuel?”

Masnellyarti Hilman, deputy minister for environmental damage control at the Environment Ministry, emphasized the need for airlines to contribute to Indonesia’s emissions reductions efforts.

“They contribute only 3 percent [of emissions], but the industry is much more ready, for instance, from a technological standpoint, than land transportation,”Masnellyarti said, adding that a switch to biofuel will reduce sulphur dioxide emissions, another major source of pollution.

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Air New Zealand Flies on Engine With Jatropha Biofuel Blend

By JAMES KANTER, The New York Times, December 30, 2008, 11:33 AM

Captain Keith Pattie, right, the test pilot for Air New Zealand’s maiden biofuel flight, poses with Captain David Morgan, left, and the company’s C.E.O., Rob Fyfe, on Tuesday. (Photo: The Associated Press)

Some in the aviation industry say they could one day be flying the biggest jets across the planet without contributing to climate change — using biofuels. 

They also say that it will be easier to convert planes to biofuels than land transport, because there are fewer planes than cars, trucks and buses, and there is a far less complex infrastructure to deal with, comprising only a few hundred airport fueling stations across the globe. 

On Tuesday, Air New Zealand joined a clutch of other commercial airlines in testing out alternative fuels. 

During a two-hour flight to and from Auckland International Airport, the Air New Zealand crew sought to test how the fuel, made from jatropha plants and blended 50:50 with Jet A1 fuel in the tank of one of four Rolls-Royce engines on a 747-400, stood up to use at high altitudes and in other demanding conditions. 

Air New Zealand and the other companies participating the project were to “review all the results as part of our drive to have jatropha certified as an aviation fuel,” said Air New Zealand Chief Pilot Captain David Morgan, who was part of the test flight.

Using jatropha-based fuel still emits carbon dioxide, but the gas is typically recycled in the growing of the feedstock, so there is ostensibly no additional CO2 added to the atmosphere. 

Even so, critics have taken issue with biofuels, which they say could drive expanded deforestation, or would compete with food commodities, raising food prices across the board — particularly for poor families and poor communities. 

Aviation industry officials say that they are committed to using sustainable biofuels that do not threaten food supplies for land or water as part of their alternative fuel tests. “A major part of the industry’s future carbon emissions reduction plans rely on the ability for aircraft to shift towards biofuels,” according to the industry. 

Air New Zealand said the jatropha it sourced and refined for its test flight came from Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and India, and was from seeds grown on environmentally sustainable farms. The airline said each jatropha seed produces between 30 and 40 percent of its mass in oil and that jatropha can be grown in a range of difficult conditions, including arid and otherwise non-arable areas, leaving prime areas available for food crops. 

Air New Zealand also explained that the criteria for sourcing the jatropha oil required that the land was neither forest land nor virgin grassland within the previous two decades. The quality of the soil and climate was such that the land was not suitable for the vast majority of food crops. Furthermore, the farms the jatropha was grown on were rain-fed, not mechanically irrigated.