TAM Airlines, working together with Airbus, has
successfully conducted the first Jatropha-based biofuel flight
in Latin America
With the aviation industry recently announcing self-imposed
CO2 reduction targets, the search is on for more environmentally
friendly fuels for use in passenger aircraft. A number of
aircraft manufacturers and airlines have been looking at
alternative fuels, such as
GTL and
biofuel and now Brazil’s largest airline, TAM Airlines,
working together with Airbus, has successfully conducted the
first Jatropha-based biofuel flight in Latin America. Airbus
claims the biofuel could help reduce the aviation sector’s
overall carbon footprint by up to 80 percent.
Following last year’s Aviation & Environment Summit, the
aviation industry committed to self-imposed CO2 reduction
targets of neutral growth from 2020, working towards a 50
percent net CO2 reduction on 2005 emissions by 2050. Although
the energy use – and, as a result, greenhouse gas emissions – of
the aviation sector (9 percent of the transportation sector in
2007*) is far overshadowed by the energy use of passenger
vehicles, such as cars and light-duty trucks (60.4 percent*),
such a reduction would have a major impact on greenhouse gas
emissions.
The biofuel used to power the TAM Airlines A320 was a 50
percent blend of conventional aviation kerosene and
locally-sourced Brazilian Jatropha-based bio-kerosene. Jatropha
is seen as one of the best candidates for biofuel production as
it is drought and pest resistant and produces seeds containing
27–40 percent oil, averaging 34.4 percent. As it contains
several toxic compounds, it also avoids the controversy
surrounding the use of traditional food crops for the production
of biofuel.
The A320, powered by CFM56 engines, took off from Galeão
Antonio Carlos Jobim International airport in Rio de Janeiro and
performed a 45-minute flight before returning to its point of
origin. The technical flight was approved by Airbus, the engine
provider CFM International, and was authorized by aviation
authorities in Europe (the European Aviation Safety Agency -
EASA), and Brazil (National Civil Aviation Agency - ANAC).
“This experimental flight materializes TAM’s participation in
a vast project to develop a production chain for renewable
biofuel, with the purpose of creating a Brazilian platform for
sustainable aviation bio-kerosene,” said Libano Barroso,
president of TAM Airlines.
TAM Airlines
and Airbus
say that studies show the use of biofuels made from Jatropha
could reduce the aviation sector’s overall carbon footprint by
up to 80 percent, compared with conventional petroleum-based
aviation kerosene. With such potential, both companies are
supporting studies to assess the sustainability and economic
viability of implementing the bio-kerosene in Brazil.
* According to the Department of Energy’s Transportation
Energy Data Book, 2008
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