Airbus has joined a
consortium including Virgin Australia to study a new pathway to produce
sustainable aviation fuels. Eucalyptus mallee trees, grown in Western
Australia’s wheat belt are sustainably harvested and converted to a
feedstock for refining into alternative aviation fuel via a process
called Pyrolysis.
Mallee is indigenous to Australia and is well
adapted to the environment. It is a suitable sustainable crop because it
helps return salt-affected land to a productive state. Mallee can be
planted on farms alongside crops, and provide a range of environmental
benefits and contribute to the long term sustainability of the overall
farming operation. Growing these trees to make alternative fuels
encourages large scale planting, which is expected to bring a range of
environmental and social benefits to farmers and rural communities.
The Pyrolysis thermal conversion process has yet to
be recognized by the world’s fuels standards authorities. Airbus’ role
includes supporting the approval and certification process so that
Pyrolysis based fuels can be used for the first time in commercial
aviation.
The consortium also includes Future Farm Industries
CRC, which is developing sustainable farming systems as part of the
Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) program.
The project objective is to have a pilot alternative
fuel production plant operating in Australia in the next year. The
sustainability analysis is managed by the CRC, Airbus and the UK’s
Manchester Metropolitan University.
“Alternative fuels are a crucial part of the roadmap
for sustainable aviation and to help meet our ambitious CO2 reduction
targets. We are privileged to be working with our Australian partners in
this exciting value chain project,” said Tom Enders, Airbus President
and CEO.
Virgin Australia Group Executive of Operations Sean
Donohue said: “In order to produce a bio-fuel that can be used
sustainably in our current aircraft, it is important to have members
from every part of the supply chain involved. Airbus will bring vast
expertise in aircraft manufacturing to the consortium and we are very
pleased to have a company of its calibre joining this promising
Australian project”.
The partnership agreement aims to develop a complete
sustainable aviation bio-fuel production capability in Australia, using
only sustainable resources and is part of the Airbus goal to have in
place a value chain in every continent by 2012. So far Airbus has value
chains in Latin America, Europe the Middle East, and now Australia.
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