BA to use biofuel from waste biomass
Airline plans to use low carbon fuel derived from waste biomass to power part of its fleet from 2014
17 Feb 2010
British Airways, in partnership with the Solena Group a specialist in renewable energy, plans to use low carbon fuel derived from waste biomass to power part of its fleet from 2014.
A jet-fuel plant, likely to be sited in East London, is anticipated to convert 500,000 tonnes of waste per year into 16 million gallons of green jet fuel through a process that is reported to offer “lifecycle greenhouse gas savings of up to 95% compared to fossil-fuel derived jet kerosene”.
The fuel will be produced by feeding waste into a high temperature gasifier, producing BioSynGas. A process known as Fischer Tropsch then converts the gas into biofuels to produce biojet fuel and bionaphtha. Bionaphtha is used as a blending component in petrol and also as a feedstock for the petrochemicals industry.
According to BA, the Fischer Tropsch tail gas can be used to produce 20MW of excess electricity for export to the national grid or converted into steam to be used in a district heating system. The only solid waste product is an inert vitrified slag material, which can be employed as an alternative to aggregates used in construction.
British Airways has signed a letter of intent to purchase all the fuel produced by the plant, which will be built by the Solena Group, a bioenergy and biofuels company based in Washington DC.
Four sites in the East of London are reported to be among those under consideration for the construction of the bio-jet fuel plant. BA said the scheme will lead to the creation of up to 1,200 jobs in the area and could reduce significantly local authority landfill tax bills by reducing the amount of waste being sent to landfill.
Willie Walsh, British Airways' chief executive, said: “This unique partnership with Solena will pave the way for realising our ambitious goal of reducing net carbon emissions by 50% by 2050. We believe it will lead to the production of a real sustainable alternative to jet kerosene.”
Dr Robert Do, chairman and chief executive of the Solena Group added: “The Solena-British Airways BioJetFuel project will efficiently convert biomass into clean renewable fuels and electricity and is completely carbon neutral.
“The plant will be a state-of-the-art renewable fuel manufacturing facility, distinct from a standard waste to energy incinerator facility.
It will not produce any polluting emissions or undesirable by-products.”
However, Friends of the Earth's biofuels campaigner Kenneth Richter was not impressed. He said: “Biofuels for cars were meant to be a way of using waste cooking oil, but we ended up trashing rainforests to grow the crops, leading to more - not less - carbon dioxide. Fuelling planes with biofuels could cause more of the same problems.
“It seems BA is already backtracking on its claim that it would only use food waste to fuel these planes.”