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Jatropha based Jet Fuel for the Aviation Industry

Based on the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Aviation is accountable for approximately 3% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which is about 13% of CO2 emissions from total transportation. Between 1990 and 2005, annual CO2 emissions from global aviation grew 42%; and by 2025, emissions are forecasted to grow by 50-70% to between 1.2 and 1.5 billion tons. Experts fear that annual global aviation emissions could reach 2.4 billion tons in 2050. This is a four-fold increase in comparison to current levels, and it would be about 20% of all CO2 permitted under a global agreement. Until the recent economic recession had hit air traffic volume, global aviation was among the fastest growing polluters. Furthermore, CO2 emitted by aircrafts high above the ground level remains in the atmosphere, and the warming effect is twice as serious than CO2 emissions on the ground.

However, the aviation industry is going green and airlines are required to measure their own carbon footprint and cut emissions. The industry is taking responsibility by formulating and committing significant emission reduction initiatives based on concrete targets. According to recent data from IATA, the aviation industry will be confronted with a compulsory blend of 5% within 3 to 5 years from now. By 2020, a 6% mix of sustainable biofuels would reduce emissions from aviation by another 5%. However, sustainable aviation fuels are required to meet the most rigorous feedstock selection and quality criteria, including life-cycle-assessment (LCA), positive net energy balance and minimal impact on eco-systems. Any sustainable biofuel will have to be compliant with existing aircraft engines and hardware infrastructure for distribution, storage and fuelling systems with no or just minimal modifications required. In addition, green aviation fuels must be suitable for blending with fossil based jet fuel. Several airlines have already successfully tested jatropha based jet fuel. Certification of biofuels for commercial flights is forecasted for 2012 and biofuels are expected to become a regular energy source for aircrafts within the next 3 to 5 years.

The world’s annual consumption of jet fuel (non-military) is about 2 billion barrels and IATA proposes 10% of jet fuel to come from biofuels by 2017. This translates into a vast biofuel market for the airline industry alone. As a consequence, green biofuels for the aviation sector is a $100 billion plus business opportunity. In the European Union, environment ministers have agreed to oblige the aviation sector to reduce its CO2 emissions by 10% by 2020 based on 2005 levels. Furthermore, the EU plans to include all flights to and from its member countries under its emissions trading scheme (ETS) by 2012. That means airlines’ operations and growths perspectives will be directly dependant on the amount of CO2 they produce. Any excess volume of CO2 has to be traded against carbon credits based on the specific emission targets. In addition, airlines will have to present emission allowances for all takeoff and landing flights at EU airports starting from 2012. The new rules will lower the cap for the aviation industry to 97% of annual global CO2 emissions from aviation between 2004 and 2006 in 2012 and 95% in 2013.
Industry research suggests that the aviation industry will encounter carbon liabilities of $1.53 billion in 2012 when the EU’s ETS scheme takes effect. Among major airlines, British Airways, Delta and United will have CO2 emissions in excess of 3 million tons and could be confronted with offset payments of approximately $50 million each. As mentioned above, he right choice of biofuels offers an escape route to these payments.

Advantage Jatropha

The expected supply of advanced biofuels for the aviation sector is expected to be sourced primarily from second generation (and third generation) biofuels. The only way to increase biofuels output will be to use feedstock that does not compete with food production. Given its outstanding characteristics and sustainability track record Jatropha is well positioned to take a center stage role. Jatropha is a credible non-food biofuel plant with cost and carbon efficiency second to none. Thus, Jatropha derived bio jet fuel is a key element to address the airline industry’s environmental performance and lessen its impact on the global ecosystem, while continuing to reduce operating costs. Based on a whole series of recent test flights with commercial and military aircraft, Bio-Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene made from jatropha oil can achieve a reduction of GHG emissions between 65 and 80% relative to petroleum derived traditional jet fuel.

In addition, Jatropha jet fuel has a lower freezing point and demonstrated higher energy density per unit mass than typical jet fuel, enabling airplanes to travel farther using less fuel. For all of the test flights, the blended biofuel displayed no adverse effects on any of the aircraft systems. Jatropha oil is the most desirable candidate for use in aviation, as when it has been refined, it has almost exactly the same chemical properties as the Jet-A1 fuel that currently powers the commercial aviation industry. According to Boeing test data, Jatropha based jet fuel exceeds fuel performance requirements, requires no change to airplanes or engines, requires no change to infrastructure, and can be mixed or alternated with Jet-A-Fuel. Jatropha based jet fuel in a 50:50 blend with conventional jet fuel is considerably lighter than Kerosene and up to 7% more energy efficient than traditional jet fuel. A successful international flight test program in close cooperation between airlines and aircraft as well as aircraft turbine manufacturers has proven the viability of jatropha based jetfuel.

Test flights from different airlines have confirmed that jatropha based jetfuel has the potential to become a substitute to fossil based Kerosene in the aviation industry. Virgin Atlantic started its test flight powered by jatropha based biofuel in February 2008. Various tests have indicated that biofuels and jet fuel can be mixed successfully. By blending up to 50%, jatropha fuel blends have either met or exceeded all the performance specifications for jet fuel. Furthermore, in November 2009, KLM performed a 1.5 hour test flight above the Netherlands with a Boeing 747 with one engine running on a mixture of 50% sustainable biofuel and 50% kerosene. In addition to Virgin Atlantic and KLM, a series of successful flights were tested by Air New Zealand, Japan Air Lines, Continental Airlines and others.

Recently, Lufthansa joined other leading airlines by targeting to use a mix of biofuel with convential kerosene on some of its commercial flights within the next 2 years, according to Wolfgang Mayrhuber, chief executive of the German flag carrier. Lufthansa has estimated its annual costs from the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) at $200-400$ million once the scheme starts for airlines in 2012.

As announced in June 2010, Air China, PetroChina, Boeing and Honeywell’s UOP will conduct an inaugural flight using sustainable biofuel derived from biomass grown and processed in China. PetroChina will provide the biomass, which will be processed into jet fuel by UOP. The internal China flight will highlight the viability of the entire supply chain – from seed to flight. The Chinese aviation biofuels project will look at all phases of sustainable aviation biofuel development including agronomy, energy inputs and outputs, life cycle emissions analysis, infrastructure and government policy support. Potential plant sources being considered are only ones that don’t distort the global food-chain, compete with fresh water resource or lead to unintended land use change. Boeing China president David Wang commented: “Sustainable biofuels can help reduce carbon emissions while offering the potential to lessen aviation’s dependence on fossil fuels.”

1 June 2010 – As One Of The First Airlines In The World, Lufthansa Plans To Conduct A Whole Series Of Test Flights Using Sustainable Biofuels. As Early As 2012 The German Carrier Intends To Regularly Use Renewable Biofuels Such As Jatropha (Video)