ATW Daily News

United's Tilton calls for major government funding for biofuel development

Thursday October 1, 2009

United Airlines Chairman and CEO Glenn Tilton, in his role as chairman of the Air Transport Assn., yesterday called for large-scale government loans, loan guarantees and grants to jumpstart development and mass production of alternative fuels, including biofuels for the airline industry.

Speaking to the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative General Meeting in Washington, Tilton said the US government "has a critical role to play" in making biofuels commercially viable. "We need sustained funding and commitment from government and private investment sources. . .to get from what we have demonstrated as possible to full-scale commercial deployment."

While welcoming the release of $25 million in funding by the US Dept. of Agriculture for R&D into biofuels, including aviation fuels, Tilton told ATWOnline that the ultimate investment "has to be well beyond $25 million."

Airlines need alternatives to conventional jet fuel for three reasons, he said: To "provide competition to petroleum-based fuels to help limit price volatility, to increase the security of supply" and to reduce aviation's environmental impact. In trying to woo private investors to support alternative fuel development and production, he pointed out that aviation buys "between 18 and 20 billion gallons of jet fuel annually, creating a great market for these products," and that carriers have no alternative but liquid fuel for the foreseeable future.

Earlier in the day, FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt noted that US airlines improved their fuel efficiency "11% in the past four years." FAA's forecast "anticipates an additional 30% jump by 2025 in part owing to greater operating and ATC efficiency. Babbitt said reduced vertical separation is saving about 3 million tons of CO2 per year. FAA's most recent analysis of Continuous Descent Approaches at Los Angeles International shows that CDA "can save 2 million gallons of fuel a year. . .that's about 17,620 m. tons of CO2" at one airport.

by Perry Flint

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