Page 70 - North American Clean Energy March April 2015

biopower

Keeping Score

Ranking airlines for biofuel

By Debbie Hammel

As government and industries are researching new and innovative ways to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases on a

national and global level, the aviation sector has also begun making strides in adopting environmental changes.

Sustainable aviation biofuels, or biojet fuels, are one of the most promising solutions to Lufthansa has completed a study of the long-term efects of aviation biofuels on plane
meet the industry’s carbon emissions reduction goals. Change isn’t always easy though, engines, and they found no adverse impacts. To date, KLM has conducted 26 long-haul
and some airlines are fairing better than others with incorporating these new fuels into lights, demonstrating that it’s possible to organize and coordinate a complex supply chain,
their leets.
while making regularly scheduled lights on aviation biofuel blends.

Although some of the major industry players have made impressive progress in terms
Biofuel scorecard
of implementing sustainability commitments this past year, there’s still more to do—
More sustainable biofuels allow airlines to ease their dependence on fossil fuels and the particularly, in the face of biofuel competition.

volatility of oil and fuel prices and, most signiicantly, reduce their carbon footprint. And,
recently, airlines got assessed on how they measured up when it came to their commitment Prioritizing risks
to a better environment.
As a newly released report from the World Resources Institute (WRI) reveals, turning
he Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) presented the irst-of-its-kind Aviation plant matter into liquid fuel or electricity can be an environmentally risky and ineicient

Biofuel Sustainability Scorecards, which rated individual airlines on just how well they approach to meeting global energy demands.
implemented and sourced sustainably produced biofuels.
Increasing competition for land—for the production of food, feed, carbon storage,
and other ecosystem values—means that biofuel feedstocks will need to be sustainably
he top-scoring carriers on the Sustainability Scorecards were: produced from either waste (e.g. agricultural residues) or crops that don’t compete with

• Air France/KLM;
food production or other critical services (e.g. cover crops).
• British Airways;
As a result, supply of these types of feedstocks is likely to be limited and there will be
• United Airlines;
competition for related biofuel production. Aviation has fewer alternatives for reducing
• Virgin Atlantic;
its carbon emissions as compared to, for example, ground transportation. It’s, therefore,

• Cathay Paciic, and important that the industry make a powerful stance in its commitment to sustainability,
• Alaska Airlines.
ensuring it’s a priority when it comes to biofuels. One way it has done so is via the
adaptation of credible, sustainability standards, which are now fully operational in the
As the world rises to the challenge of curbing climate change and cutting carbon pollution, marketplace.

addressing air travel pollution must be part of this mix.
The future
The stats
he aviation industry has established a commitment to reducing emissions. Low-carbon
Air travel emits more than 650 million metric tons of carbon pollution annually—that’s fuels will play a key role in the industry’s eforts to hold its carbon emissions steady after

the equivalent of pollution from 136 million cars—making the increased use of sustainable 2020. he intent is to cut net carbon emissions to half of the 2005 level by 2050.
biofuels a critical step in reducing the industry’s carbon footprint.
In support of these eforts, the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) has
Fortunately, the aviation sector has become fairly proactive about this issue, and an adopted related industry standards. RSB is an international initiative that brings together
industry-wide increase in the use of sustainably produced biofuels is on the horizon. In a variety of stakeholders to help ensure the sustainability of biomass and biomaterial

the past ive years, more than 40 commercial airlines around the world have lown an production and processing. hey also provide a certiication system based on sustainability
estimated 600,000 miles—powered, at least in part, by biofuels.
standards, which encompasses environmental, social, and economic criteria.

70 nacleanenergy.com
MARCH/APRIL 2015