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Published: 4 July 2011
‘Bio-derived’ jet fuel industry achievable for Australia
An economically and environmentally beneficial ‘bio-derived’ Australian and New Zealand aviation fuel industry is viable, according to a report compiled by CSIRO in collaboration with the region’s major aviation industry.
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Australia and New Zealand could seize the opportunity to transform biomass into aviation fuel. Credit: istockphoto
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The FlightPathtoSustainableAviation report predicts that over the next 20 years, a sustainable, Australia–New Zealand aviation fuel industry could cut greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent, generate more than 12?000 jobs, and reduce Australia’s reliance on aviation fuel imports by $2 billion per annum.
‘This study identifies the market, infrastructure and governance changes required for success,’ says the project’s leader, CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship’s economist Mr Paul Graham.
‘Through the uptake of sustainable bio-derived jet fuel, together with next-generation aircraft and engines, the industry can reduce both its emissions and its reliance on imported fossil fuel.’
Members of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group – including Air New Zealand, Boeing, Qantas and Virgin Australia – together with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation and The Climate Group collaborated on the study.
The group found that commercially viable quantities of aviation fuel could feasibly be derived from Australia’s and New Zealand’s non-food biomass sources, such as crop stubble, forestry residues, municipal waste and algae. It also found that current biomass stocks are sufficient to support a local jet fuel industry.
