Pan-Sector Initiative Targets 2.2 Million Tons Of Aviation Biofuel By 2020

The European Commission, Airbus, leading European airlines and European biofuel producers, have launched an exciting new industry-wide initiative to try and speed up the commercialization of sustainable aviation fuels in Europe.

The initiative, labelled “Biofuel Flightpath,” is a roadmap with clear milestones which targets an annual production of 2.2 million tons of sustainably produced biofuel for aviation by 2020. The biofuel will be produced in Europe from European sourced feedstock material and has the backing of The European Commissioner, Günther Oettinger, Airbus CEO Tom Enders, major European airlines, and a number of advanced biofuel producers.

The “Biofuel Flightpath” commits members to support and promote the production, storage and distribution of sustainably produced drop-in biofuels for use in aviation and to reach two million tonnes production and consumption by 2020. It also targets establishing appropriate financial mechanisms to support the construction of industrial “first of a kind” advanced biofuel production plants. "This is a unique opportunity to create the first industrial venture ever introducing sustainable biofuels for commercially competitive operations. The Commission therefore fully supports all efforts in this direction and will actively contribute to their success. They are fully in line with our European Strategic Energy Technology Plan," said Mr Günter H. Oettinger, European Commissioner for Energy.

“Airbus supports the speeding up of the commercialisation of sustainable biofuels for use in aviation. Our catalyst role is to bring together stakeholders such as advanced biofuel producers, airlines and lawmakers in value chains, in order to achieve this common goal more quickly. Only by working together can we meet our ambitious target to make air transportation truly sustainable,” said Tom Enders.

"The suitability of biofuels for aviation has been proven, opening an outstanding opportunity to drastically reduce air transport’s carbon footprint. Deployment of sustainable biofuels will only be possible through a shared vision and common objectives from producers, end users and policy makers. With this ambitious ‘Biofuel Flightpath’, Europe is giving the right signal for the emergence of a European supply chain." Pierre Henri Gourgeon , CEO Air France-KLM.

"Aviation biofuels are today technically possible and our biofuels sector is ready to help meet the Flightpath targets towards its commercialization. Together with airlines and public stakeholders, we will create viable and cost competitive business cases for the production and utilisation of sustainably produced aviation biofuels." said Marcell Ulrichs, CEO of CHOREN Industries. 'We are committed to enabling the global aviation community to reduce its carbon footprint and its dependence on crude."

More specifically the Biofuel Flightpath aims to:

• Facilitate the development of standards for drop-in biofuels and for their certification
• Work together with the full supply chain to further develop worldwide accepted sustainability certification.
• Facilitate dedicated aviation biofuel production at a reasonable cost by agreeing to tangible biofuel supply and purchase commitments.
• Promote appropriate legislative measures to ensure the market uptake of paraffinic biofuels by the aviation sector. 
• Accelerate research and innovation into advanced biofuel technologies, including algae.
• Establish financing structures to facilitate sustainable biofuel projects.
• Publicly promote the benefits of replacing kerosene by sustainable biofuels.

FMI: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/technology/initiatives/biofuels_flight_path_en.htm