With release of the new specification for alternative jet fuels last month, along with the first approval for synthetic hydrocarbons used in a blend with petroleum-based jet fuel, airlines are looking for rapid progress with sustainable biofuels to help them meet their environmental targets.
ICAO is meeting in Montreal next week to determine how civil aviation should be treated as part of the overall alternative fuel issue, which it will then put forth to the Copenhagen climate change conference in December. Industry has proposed a framework that includes a commitment to making growth carbon-neutral by 2021 and reducing emissions by 50% in 2050, relative to 2005.
“We need fuel improvements to help meet the greenhouse gas targets set,” said Nancy Young, VP-environmental affairs for the U.S. Air Transport Association, addressing a meeting of the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI) yesterday in Washington.
The alternative fuel specification (D7566), the first new jet-fuel specification in two decades, was developed and approved in just 14 months by standards body ASTM International. “We had to work quickly because the airlines and the U.S. Air Force want this, but it had to be a robust document. We had to be creative, but conservative,” said the FAA’s Mark Rumizen, CAAFI certification team leader.
The first annex to D7566 covers synthetic hydrocarbons produced from coal, gas and biomass using the Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) process, and used in blends up to 50%. The next step is to include in the specification hydrotreated renewable jet fuel (HRJ) produced from plant and algal oils.
A research report on testing of HRJ fuels is expected to be available by yearend, said Rumizen, adding, “Incorporating a 50% blend of HRJ into the specification is planned for the end of 2010.” The next steps will be approval of 100% synthetic F-T jet fuel, planned for the end of 2011, followed at the end of 2013 by approval for 100% HRJ biofuel, he says. Beyond that lies approval of fuels from advanced fermentation and other processes.
While new aircraft and engines, operational and infrastructure improvements will help slow the growth in aviation emissions, alternative fuels are the “only way” to achieve carbon-neutral growth in the timescale set, says Lourdes Maurice, FAA chief scientist for the environment. “We have to work quickly [to approve sustainable jet fuels], but be deliberate,” Rumizen says.
AVIATION WEEK Copyright 2009
