Eco-Aviation Channel

Widespread use of biofuels seen as answer to aviation emissions

By Geoffrey Thomas
Eco-Aviation Today, August 10, 2009, p.5

New report from UK-based Policy Exchange claims that wide-scale deployment of sustainable biojet fuels would result in emission reductions worth £37.4 billion ($62.4 billion) in the UK between 2020 and 2050, as well as making a significant contribution to meeting the UK's 2050 emission reduction target.

The report, "Green Skies Thinking," recommends setting "achievable and enforceable targets" for replacing standard kerosene jet fuel with biofuel from 2020 through implementation of an EU-wide Sustainable Bio-jet Fuel Blending Mandate." Under the mandate, "the proportion of jet fuel derived from, or blended with, sustainable biofuel would rise from 20% in 2020 to 80% in 2050." This would result in reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from the UK and EU aviation sectors of 15% in 2020 and 60% in 2050 relative to current predictions, while the value of the cumulative emissions reductions across the EU between 2020 and 2050 would be £305.5 billion, the report claims.

The report's author and Head of Policy Exchange's Energy & Environment Unit Ben Caldecott warned that "if left unchecked, emissions from aviation are set to account for up to a fifth of global GHG emissions by 2050." The report also calls for increased government support of biofuels research through more generous investment tax credit policy.

"We know that the majority of people don't think the aviation sector is sufficiently concerned about the environment but, at the same time, we also know that lots of people still want to be able to appreciate the benefits of flying abroad. We do need to look at reducing demand for flights, but switching from standard jet fuel to sustainable bio-jet fuel is currently the only viable option to significantly reduce emissions from the flights that remain. Biofuels in aviation can also be delivered in sufficient quantities to meet global demand--unlike biofuels for road transport," the report says.

While generally welcoming the findings of the report, Virgin Atlantic Airways disagreed with the setting of a 2020 mandate. In a statement it said: "In order to optimize life-cycle carbon savings, Virgin Atlantic believes that biofuels should be used in aircraft at the point of production, for example on flights from Africa to the UK, and not simply shipped in to the EU to power flights back to where they were cultivated."

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