Skeptics Question Airline Biofuels

(10/21/11, R. Wall, AviationWeek) When it comes to operating airliners with a biofuel blend, it is becoming difficult to find a name-brand airline that has not conducted a demonstration flight. The problem is, it may all be for naught. Air France recently completed a trial, as have Lufthansa, KLM, Iberia and a raft of others. All tout the carbon dioxide savings these flights—or in some cases longer-running trials—are achieving. But the air transport industry may be deluding itself if it believes biofuels are the panacea for carbon footprint reduction, at least for this decade and possibly beyond. High fuel costs as well as competing demand make it unlikely that biojet will deliver the promised carbon dioxide reductions within a desired timeframe. Already, road transport’s demand for biodiesel is growing so rapidly that it is not clear where the supply will come from to meet 2020 targets, says John Cooper, director of transport policy at BP. Availability of sufficient feedstock is “a major concern,” he notes.

What is more, many biofuels have a carbon footprint that is not much better than fossil fuels and, with regulators looking to impose an indirect land-use charge to account for the fact that food is not produced, the prospects for biojet are dimmed further. Cooper fears that vegetable oil-based biojet is likely “a blind alley.” Fuels from waste products are more attractive, he says, but much of the work to commercialize those is not far enough advanced. With biojet costs about double what airlines pay for kerosene, it makes more sense for carriers to simply purchase carbon credits in an emissions trading system (ETS)than spending money on biojet. At current prices, biojet use would equate to more than €300 ($410) per metric ton of carbon, far above the ETS market rate, which is currently below €12. Airlines are still betting on biofuel, though, in part to burnish their “green” credentials. Efforts are under way in Europe to address the issue, principally the European Commission-backed biofuels flightpath that has as its goal production of 2 million tons of sustainable biofuel by 2020.

However, there is some doubt that the cost curve can change significantly. In the case of many technologies it is difficult to see how costs will come down, Cooper says. If airlines are serious about achieving carbon-neutral growth by 2020, it is all the more troubling, then, that their involvement in the European Union’s emissions trading system is so precarious. The EU’s decision to include all airlines that land in or depart from member states is not just garnering increasing vocal opposition from outsiders, but threatens to become a nasty international battle. European airlines, despite their misgivings about elements of the ETS, would not want to see its total demise, because if this attempt at a cap-and-trade system fails it might be replaced with more draconian measures, such as additional taxes, warns British Airways’ head of environmental affairs, Jonathan Counsell. “By taking too big a first step, it is taking us backward,” he says...

Boeing, Embraer Form Biofuel Joint Venture.

Reuters (10/27, Ewing) reports Boeing and Embraer have agreed to work together on a biofuels joint venture to determine the best way to expand the use of biofuel from sugar. According to the article, because the companies are leaders in the plane market, the venture shows how interested commercial airlines are in biofuels...


Will producers scale, or fail?

(Biofuelsdigest, 11/7) In recent weeks, aviation biofuel enthusiasts have noted the commencement of biofuels-powered commercial flights in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Mexico, and asked when the US-developed technology would finally operate on a commercial basis in the US. Alaska Airlines stepped up to answer the call in partnership with Dynamic Fuels, only to find that United has teamed up with Solazyme to snatch the prize for first flight. This morning in Texas, United Airlines will operate the first U.S. commercial flight powered by advanced biofuel, utilizing Solazyme Solajet fuel, on Monday, November 7. UA Flight 1403 will depart from United’s hub at Bush Intercontinental Airport (the heart of big oil) and fly to the airline’s hub at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. The aircraft is a United Boeing 737-800 Eco-Skies aircraft, and Continental pilots will be at the helm. The flight departs Bush at 10:25 am CT from terminal C, and lands at Chicago O’Hare at 1:01pm CT, typically arriving at United’s Terminal 1. The fuel, produced by Solazyme, is a 40/60 blend of sustainable biofuel and traditional petroleum-derived jet fuel. Solazyme’s renewable oils were upgraded into Solafuel by Honeywell’s UOP...