Virgin Atlantic Airways announced that within three years it will power commercial flights with a low-carbon aviation fuel made from recycled waste gas. Partnering company LanzaTechwill produce the fuel by capturing waste gases from industrial steel production and converting it into jet fuel through a fermentation technology developed by Swedish Biofuels.
Virgin Atlantic says the resulting fuel will have half the carbon footprint of standard jet fuel. Furthermore, the waste gases would otherwise be burned off at the point of production, releasing carbon dioxide, if not converted into jet fuel.
Currently the technology is being piloted in New Zealand. However, Virgin Atlantic intends to use the fuel on flights from Shanghai and Delhi to London Heathrow to take advantage of production facilities planned in China and India. A demonstration facility will be commissioned in Shanghai this year, and the first commercial operation is expected to be in place in China by 2014.
If implementation is successful, a wider rollout could include operations in the UK and the rest of the world, the airline says.
LanzaTech estimates that its process can apply to 65 percent of the world’s steel mills, which would overcome the complex land use issues associated with some earlier generation biofuels.
Source: Sustainable Life Media
By Bart King