SE Asia eyes revolution in biofuel for aviation by Christopher Surgenor Aviation is one of the fastest growing contributors to rising levels of greenhouse gas emissions and is under pressure from governments and regulatory authorities to act. The international airline industry has risen to the challenge and adopted long-term targets to stabilize the growth in emissions starting in 2020. Whereas other forms of transport can decarbonize by looking to new forms of green energy, commercial aircraft will continue to be reliant on the unique properties of traditional jet kerosene from fossil fuels for the foreseeable future. New aircraft today are 15 to 20 percent more fuel efficient than their predecessors and there have been innovative strides in aircraft operating procedures to reduce fuel burn. However, this is not enough to keep up with the current accelerating increase in air traffic volumes–and therefore emissions–particularly in the developing world, although the industry continues to make progress in decoupling emissions growth from traffic growth. Many agree that marketbased measures, in which emissions are offset elsewhere, can provide an important part of the answer to meeting carbonreduction goals but this is a controversial geopolitical issue. The industry is, therefore, looking to alternative aviation fuels that have the same as or better properties than jet kerosene but emit less carbon on a life-cycle basis.
for the airline’s needs only at London City Airport. Then there is the enormous quantity of biomass required to feed a biorefinery. To date, only certain types of conversion processes have been certified for the production of alternative fuels for commercial aviation use. One relies on long-proven FischerTropsch technology to convert materials such as municipal waste into fuels–Greensky is an example–or forest residues. The other is a process that converts oils from nonedible crops such as camelina and jatropha. Once described as a “wonder crop,” the early promise of jatropha as a biofuel feedstock faded
Dream Now a Reality
after anticipated yields failed to materialize but now there are signs that the development of new strains of jatropha and better agricultural understanding may resurrect its fortunes. This could present a significant opportunity for farmers in Southeast Asia as the crop is well suited to the climate. The airline industry, through its Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group (SAFUG), has made it plain that the biofuels it uses not only must reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a life-cycle basis but that feedstocks do not compete with food crops or cause a loss of biodiversity. Southeast Asia is a leading region in the world for the production of palm oil, which could easily be turned into aviation biofuel. Indeed, Singapore hosts the world’s biggest
Barely a dream even five years ago, such fuels have emerged from the laboratory, shown to be technically feasible, have been certified and now have entered commercial airline service, although still on a very limited basis. The challenge now is scale up commercial production at a price to airlines that is competitive with jet kerosene. This requires huge investment and government support. The airline industry is forecast to consume around 76 billion gallons of jet fuel this year. To put this into context, the capital outlay for the proposed new Solena/ British Airways Greensky plant in London is estimated at up to $500 million, with plans to produce 16 million gallons of alternative jet fuel annually, enough
biodiesel refinery, which produces one billion liters of fuel per year. Palm oil is the main feedstock used and the refinery’s owner, Neste Oil, says it is fully sustainable and traceable. However, reports of large swaths of Southeast Asian forest being cleared to make way for palm plantations has, correctly, steered the airline industry away from palm oil use. Southeast Asia Offers Potential
However, with sustainable aviation fuel supply chains already set up in the U.S., South America, Australia and Europe, Southeast Asia is seen as the next region to promise great potential in the development of such fuels.
of 2-percent use by 2015–a level that that would require annual availability of around 10 million liters of such fuels. “We are going for biofuel. We have to,” said Emirsyah Satar, CEO of flagship carrier Garuda, although he admitted the time frame depends on availability. “The problem is supply and the cost is still too high.” Hosted by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), representatives from the aviation and biofuel sectors, together with policymakers, regulators, NGOs and other stakeholders, met in Bangkok last September to investigate the opportunities and challenges
region,” said AAPA technical director Martin Eran-Tasker. The two manufacturers might be enemies when it comes to selling aircraft but Airbus and Boeing are joining when it comes to getting a nascent aviation biofuels industry off the ground. They collaborated in organizing the Bangkok event, for example. “Airbus is working with AAPA to define the best sources of sustainable aviation fuels in Southeast Asia, and to promote the use of these fuels in the region,” said Frédéric Eychenne, new energies programmed manager for Airbus. “The September conference, co-organized with
Boeing is working with the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials to ensure aviation biofuels are produced sustainably in Southeast Asia and other regions. Here, local residents find employment controlling weeds between jatropha trees on a plantation near Meizhou, China.
Helping to get a nascent aviation biofuels industry off the ground, Airbus is involved in a program whereby seeds from the jatropha curcas plant can be converted into aviation biofuels with similar properties to fossil-fuelbased jet kerosene.
Following government instructions, Garuda Indonesia is targeting a 2-percent use of biofuels by 2015 and 3-percent use by 2020. Currently, the airline says the time frame for implementation depends on availability, with the problem being supply and the high cost.
The Indonesian government recently became the first in the world to set a national target for their implementation. In December, government ministries came together to sign an agreement on the use of aviation biofuels and renewable energy sources at airports in the country as part of national efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change. The goal is a 3-percent use of biofuels by 2020, with a more challenging, and perhaps over-optimistic, target
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of developing a successful sustainable aviation biofuels industry in Southeast Asia. “The aviation industry is keen to work with key ASEAN decision makers to provide the necessary policy framework to support the development of competitive and sustainable aviation fuels. At the same time as reducing aviation’s environmental impact, the growth of feedstocks for sustainable aviation fuels will open up rural socio-economic development opportunities across the
Boeing and SAFUG, was supported by ASEAN, and identified the next steps.” Through partnerships and research projects around the world, explained Eychenne, the Airbus sustainable fuel strategy is focused around three central principles: to support the qualification and certification of new aviation fuels, to support their large-scale use and to ensure the sustainability of the solutions. To guarantee aviation biofuels meet rigorous sustainability standards, the industry has thrown its weight behind the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB), an independent global standards and certification group. Supported by Boeing, the RSB hosted a workshop in Kuala Lumpur in December to help small farmers in Southeast Asia grow feedstocks for sustainable fuels and address the challenge of market access. “Southeast Asia is one of the world’s fastest growing regions for commercial aviation and has great potential to develop a sustainable aviation biofuel industry,” said Skip Boyce, president of Boeing for Southeast Asia. “To help develop that potential, Boeing is working closely with partners to ensure positive outcomes for the aviation industry, the environment and, most importantly, the people of the region.” o