In its quest to reduce its carbon footprint and its exposure to the risks associated with volatile oil and jet fuel prices while demand for air transport continues to grow, the aviation industry is exploring the development of alternative, sustainable jet fuels made from renewable sources
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), there are specific requirements that apply to sustainable alternative jet fuels.
They must be chemically compatible with conventional jet fuel – so-called ‘drop-in’ fuels – and it must be possible to use them without having to adapt existing supply infrastructure, aircraft or engines. They must meet the same specifications as conventional jet fuel, particularly being resistant to cold and having a high energy content. They must also, of course, meet “sustainability criteria such as lifecycle carbon reductions, limited fresh water requirements, no competition with food production and no deforestation”, IATA states.
For instance, agricultural and forestry by-products can be a source of biomass for fuel without requiring the dedication of separate areas of land, and there are several crops that can be grown without competing for land that might otherwise be used for food production.
Aircraft manufacturer Boeing is working on a range of projects with feedstocks that can grow in marginal lands (such as halophytes, which grow in the desert and can be irrigated with seawater, in the UAE); waste products (waste cooking oil, leftover chicken fat, or municipal solid waste); agricultural waste (leftover corn stalks and leaves); and nicotine-free energy tobacco that can form a new crop for experienced tobacco farmers.
IATA says that lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels can be up to 80% lower than emissions from traditional ‘fossil’ jet fuel. The US Department of Energy Studies agrees with this estimate.
Jessica Kowal, environmental spokesperson for Boeing, explains that three types of aviation biofuel have been approved; two of these are in use and they are always blended with fossil jet fuel. The first, called HEFA-processed fuel (hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids), is made from plant oils and animal fats – often the material is used cooking oil. It is approved for blending up to a 50:50 ratio with petroleum jet fuel. The second, called farnesane, is made from plant sugar by California-based Amyris; the raw material is derived from Brazilian sugarcane. This fuel has been approved for up to a 10% blend (ie with 90% petroleum).
Test flights using various blends of up to 50% biojet fuel were carried out between 2008 and 2011 by a number of airlines and aircraft manufacturers to demonstrate their safety and efficiency. IATA says that since the certification of HEFA fuels in 2011, 21 airlines have performed over 1,600 commercial passenger flights with blends of up to 50% biojet fuel from used cooking oil, jatropha, camelina and algae. Airlines involved, according to IATA, include KLM, Lufthansa, Finnair, Interjet, Aeroméxico, Iberia, Thomson Airways, Air France, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Thai Airways, LAN, Qantas, Jetstar, Porter, Gol, Air Canada, bmi, NextJet, SAS and Norwegian. Lufthansa and KLM were among those conducting longer series of regular biofuel flights, IATA noted.
FAR EAST DEVELOPMENTS
Recent months have seen a number of steps forward in the Far East. Among these was China’s first commercial passenger flight using Chinese-made biofuel. The Next-Generation B737-800 flight from Shanghai to Beijing was operated by Hainan Airlines on 21 March. Powering the aircraft’s CFM International CFM56-7B engines was an approximately equal blend of petroleum jet fuel and biofuel – the latter made by Sinopec from waste cooking oil, collected from restaurants.
“We are very pleased to work together with Hainan Airlines, China National Aviation Fuel and Boeing to accomplish this remarkable flight, which is a milestone,” said Sinopec spokesperson Lv Dapeng. “For many years, Sinopec has maintained a leadership role in China in terms of the development and application of biomass fuel including aviation biofuel and bio-diesel. This fully represents an earnest commitment from Sinopec to continuously advance scientific and technological innovation and promote green and low-emission development.”
Hainan Airlines vice president Pu Ming, who piloted the aircraft, commented: “As a fast-growing domestic and international carrier, Hainan Airlines is demonstrating our environmental commitment by showing that aviation biofuel can play a safe and effective role in China’s air transport system.”
Boeing, whose Current Market Outlook predicts that China will require 6,020 new aircraft by 2033 to keep pace with increasing demand for both international and domestic air travel, adds: “Sustainably produced biofuel, which reduces carbon emissions by 50 to 80% compared to petroleum through its lifecycle, is expected to play a key role in supporting aviation’s growth while meeting environmental goals.”
Besides its projects in this field elsewhere in the world, the aircraft manufacturer is working on aviation biofuel development with several partners in China, such as the Commercial Aviation Corp of China (COMAC) and the Chinese Academy of Science’s Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT). The country’s first aviation biofuel test flight took place in 2011, with a B747-400 flying on China-grown, jatropha-based biofuel.
Elsewhere in the region, and on the very same day as the Hainan Airlines flight, Dragonair (part of the Cathay Pacific Group) flew an A330-300 with Rolls-Royce Trent engines from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport to Hong Kong using a 50:50 blend of petroleum-based jet fuel and biofuel, once again made from used cooking oil. This was the carrier’s first-ever commercial flight using a certified sustainable biofuel blend and was expected to show a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 25 tonnes.
The Hong Kong-based airline noted at the time: “As well as being a first for Dragonair, this will also be the first time any international commercial flight has been operated from Mainland China using a biofuel blend.
“This Dragonair flight is taking place as part of the Cathay Pacific Group’s drive to demonstrate its commitment to sustainable aviation biofuels, which will form a key part of its strategy for achieving a corporate target of carbon-neutral growth from 2020.”
LARGE-SCALE PRODUCTION
Dragonair points out that no special handling or monitoring were required for this flight – but some changes are needed if biofuels are to be implemented widely throughout the global aviation industry. For instance, Norway’s Oslo Airport announced late last year that it would become the world’s first hub to receive regular deliveries of biofuel, from Statoil Aviation (which was taken over by Air BP in December 2014).
“This is a good start towards developing a market for aviation biofuel,” remarks Marius Holm, head of the environmental foundation ZERO. “The fact that (Norwegian state-owned airport operator) Avinor is contributing to making Oslo Airport the first hub in the world where all airlines have the opportunity to use biofuel illustrates that a green change is possible.
“At the same time, it’s important that the authorities step up with policy instruments that promote greater use of biofuel in aviation,” he says.
IATA has called for governments to fulfil a number of roles in respect of aviation biofuel development, including the adoption of harmonised global sustainability standards, levelling the playing field between biofuel and land transport through equivalent public incentives, supporting research and development programmes, devising policies to ‘de-risk’ investment in biofuel production, engaging in public-private partnerships and committing to policy timeframes to match investment timeframes.
There are already numerous certification bodies, such as ASTM International, working to develop standards and ensure adequate quality and safety of the alternative fuels being developed and produced.
Statoil Aviation was expected to deliver 2.5 million litres of sustainable biofuel to the tank facility at Oslo Airport in the first 12 months of its contract, beginning in March this year. The initial biofuel deliveries were expected to come from used cooking oil, but a statement from Oslo Airport said that major players in the Norwegian power and forestry industries are exploring the possibility of forest-based large-scale production of biofuel for aviation in the course of a few short years. “It’s not out of the question that we in Norway could achieve large-scale production of sustainable aviation biofuel at a competitive price in 2020,” observes Avinor CEO Dag Falk-Petersen.
”Statoil Aviation has now taken biofuel from tests and promotions to real business,” said Statoil Aviation vice president Thorbjörn Larsson when the contract was announced in November last year. “Signing supply contracts with airlines which include biofuels drop-in is a real breakthrough in the aviation industry, and another important step for a better environment.”
By the time the deal was announced, Statoil Aviation had entered into agreements with Lufthansa Group (Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Germanwings, Eurowings, Brussels Airlines), SAS and KLM for deliveries of biofuel at Oslo Airport.
THE FUTURE
According to IATA: “The main challenges to a wide deployment of biojet fuels are not technical, but commercial and political. Currently, biojet fuels are more expensive than Jet A/A1, therefore demand is low and risk is high for investment in production infrastructure. Carefully designed policy is needed to foster investment and development of biojet production capacity.
“In the United States a combination of incentives according to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and incentives for agriculture, under the right conditions, can open the possibility of price-competitive biojet fuel being available… The European Union, with its Biofuels Flightpath project, has set a target of two million tonnes per year of aviation biofuels in Europe in 2020, which is about three to four percent of total jet fuel use in Europe. However, the Netherlands is the only EU Member State that recognises the use of aviation biofuels as counting towards the EU renewable energy goals.
“Aireg in Germany has set a target of 10% of alternative aviation fuel for 2025. Indonesia has introduced a biojet fuel mandate of 2% commencing in 2016, rising to 5% by 2025. A 3% volume blend-in of sustainable second-generation biojet fuel yearly worldwide would reduce aviation carbon dioxide emissions by about 2%, which would be a reduction of over 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. This would require investment of around US$10-15 billion in production and distribution facilities,” the organisation calculates.
Boeing’s Kowal concedes: “The reality is that commercial aviation will need liquid fuel for the foreseeable future. As I’ve heard our executives and engineers say, technologies such as solar cells and hydrogen can’t provide enough thrust required to get a one million pound 747 off the ground in 100-degree heat.
“However, the aviation industry has set aggressive goals to reduce its carbon emissions. The three-pillar strategy to do so is to (1) improve fuel efficiency in airplanes; (2) improve the efficiency of flight operations; and (3) replace petroleum with sustainably produced biofuel.”
Boeing’s environmental strategy – not just its biofuel strategy – is driven by both business reasons and environmental reasons. Commercial aviation growing alongside the development of the middle classes around the world, and climate change is an ever-growing concern – “air transport currently accounts for about 2% of total manmade carbon dioxide emissions and, as our industry grows, we recognise the need to reduce its environmental impact”, Kowal points out.
Against this backdrop: “In the long run, Boeing and our customers want to maintain our licence to grow and also to reduce aviation’s environmental footprint. Our industry has set aggressive targets to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and we believe Boeing can and should be a leader in that effort. So the bottom line is that we are involved in biofuel development because it’s good for our customers, our company, our employees and the planet.”
