AdvancedBiofuelNews Navy, Pudue team on renewable energy
Airbus, KLM complete 10-hour biofuel flight In May, the longest biofuel flight to date completed by an Airbus aircraft took place. An Airbus A330-200 operated by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines completed a 10hour flight from the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands, to the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba on a blend of 20 percent biofuel. The flight was the first in a series of 20 long-haul commercial flights in the context of the European initiative called ITAKA, or the Initiative Towards sustAinable Kerosene for Aviation, which aims to speed up the commercialization of aviation biofuels in Europe. ITAKA is funded by the European Union and is designed as a collaborative project that aims to produce sustainable aviation fuel and test its use in existing systems and normal flight operations. The project also aims to link supply and demand by establishing relationships among feedstock growers and producers, biofuel producer, distributors and airlines. Airbus’s major role in the testing is to collect data before, during and after the flight on the engine fuel system, engine performance, and other factors. Airbus also provides insights into the use of nonpetroleum-based fuels compared to traditional fuels.
46 BIOMASS MAGAZINE | JULY 2014
The U.S. Department of the Navy and Purdue University recently signed a statement of cooperation agreeing to work together to convert up to half of the Navy and Marine Corps' energy consumption to alternative sources, including biofuels, by 2020. “The Department of the Navy and Purdue have a deep interest in working together to reduce reliance on carbon-based fuels and energy sources,” said Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. “Not only does this help decrease our dependence on fossil fuel, it makes our Navy and Marine Corps a better warfighting force.” “Together, the Navy and Purdue will focus on promoting more efficient production and refinement of advanced biofuels and sharing and discussing the results of testing and demonstration projects involving the certification of advanced alternative fuels in aviation and marine engines,” said Purdue President Mitch Daniels. “We also will pursue agricultural and other biobased feedstocks that will ensure the most economically viable production of advanced alternative fuels.”