Aviation Industry Looking At Future Biofuel Sources.

Aviation Week (9/17, Warwick) reported, "In just five years, the aviation industry's decades-long reliance on petroleum-based fuels has been turned on its head. The future lies in fuels from sources that range from animal fat to microalgae. But with the technology in hand, the question now is whether biofuel producers can raise the investment needed to launch commercial-scale production." Approval by ASTM International is described by the article as the "critical step" for their implementation. "While the near-term focus is on plant oils and animal fats as feedstocks, aviation is enamored of algae because it promises high-oil yields from small land areas and does not compete with food for land or water." There is now "growing excitement-and debate" about what new "pathways" for biofuels will be developed.

Airbus, BA Working With Cranfield University On Algae [Biofuel] Project.

(FlightGlobal-Air Transport Intelligence, 9/20, Reals) reported, "Several companies including Airbus and British Airways have teamed up with the UK's Cranfield University to push forward the use of algae as an alternative fuel for the aviation industry. The Sustainable Use of Renewable Fuels (SURF) consortium consists of Airbus, BA, Cranfield University, Rolls-Royce, Finnair, London's Gatwick Airport and IATA. Its aim is to study five areas relating to the possible future use of microalgae as an alternative to kerosene." The consortium "is based around a pilot project at Cranfield called Sea Green, under which algae is being grown and processed for potential use as a biofuel."

Sea Green Project Accelerates Algae for Aviation.

(DomesticFuel, J. Schroeder, 9/23/10) Renewable aviation fuel was a hot topic during the recent Aviation and Environment Summit in Geneva. During the event, the Sustainable Use of Renewable Fuels (SURF) consortium was announced with the intention of accelerating algae for aviation fuel. SURF was developed to support Cranfield University’s Sea Green project that will harvest algae to produce jet fuel at commercial scale. SURF is comprised of Airbus, British Airways, Rolls-Royce, Finnair, Gatwick Airport, IATA, and Cranfield University. Cranfield currently has a pilot facility on campus that is growing and processing algae for biofuels. However, the long-term the goal is for Sea Green to be an ocean based facility and producing commercial scale levels of bio-jet fuel within three years. According to a press release, Sea Green’s ocean based facility, “will be designed to use the expanse of the world’s near-shore waters to rapidly grow microalgae at a faster rate than any other initiative and capture CO2 from the atmosphere and seas at the same time...”