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March 31 (Bloomberg) — Airlines may win approval to start using biofuels for their flights as early as 2010 and find commercially viable solutions within five years as they seek to cut carbon emissions and trim dependence on petroleum-based fuel, the International Air Transport Association said.
Recent tests by companies such Continental Airlines Inc., Japan Airlines Corp., Air New Zealand Ltd. and Virgin Atlantic Airways show that new types of biofuels can work, Paul Steele, executive director of the association’s Air Transport Action Group, said today on a conference call from Geneva.
“We expect that some time in the next three to five years we’ll have commercial viability of the first versions,’ Steele said. “The specification approvals process could be done as early as the end of next year, and then we need some initial commercialization startups.”
The interest in new fuels comes as governments push airlines and other industries to trim carbon emissions, blamed for contributing to global warming. Use of biofuels could lead to an estimated 80 percent reduction in emissions during their life cycle and increase energy security beyond current oil supplies, the airline association said.
The organization is now discussing with more than 10 parties the prospects for making available plant sources for use as jet fuel, Steele said. He declined to provide names, citing commercial sensitivity.
Among sources that already have been used in tests are the jatropha scrub plant, which has oil-producing seeds, algae and camelina, a flowering plant that wheat farmers grow. Deutsche Lufthansa AG has a target of using biofuel for 10 percent of its fuel needs by 2020.
source By Andrea Rothman (Bloomberg)
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