ATW Daily News

Qatar Airways unveils next phase of biofuel production

Wednesday January 13, 2010

Qatar Airways, Qatar Science & Technology Park and Qatar Petroleum announced establishment of the Qatar Advanced Biofuel Platform, which, with the support of Airbus, will carry out engineering and economic analysis into the development of a sustainable biofuel and "will also look into ways for production and supply," QR said. QABP will focus on creating a detailed engineering/implementation plan for sustainable production, a biofuel investments strategy, an advanced technology development program and market and strategic analyses. QR said it will be a "dedicated end-user" and that specific feedstocks have been identified "which could be developed and processed with the aim of providing access to [biomass-to-liquid] jet fuel for use by Qatar Airways." The airline operated the first gas-to-liquid fuel blend-powered commercial flight with an A340-600 in October and conducted a feasibility study on sustainable BTL jet fuel with QSTP and US-based Verno Systems (ATWOnline, Oct. 16, 2009). The consortium announced its intent to explore the feasibility of GTL fuel at the 2007 Dubai Air Show. It said that while it is moving to the "next phase" of alternative fuels, it will continue "to develop GTL further."

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