Are Sustainable Aviation Fuels Ready For Take Off?

The introduction of the Gillard Government’s proposed carbon tax is likely to accelerate the move by commercial airlines to adopt sustainable fuels,  Susan Pond, United States Studies Centre adjunct professor with the Dow Sustainability Program told a three-day forum looking at alternative fuels for commercial aviation as part of this week’s Avalon International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition in Victoria. To accelerate the commercialisation of Sustainable Aviation Fuels, Qantas is working with aviation stakeholders on an Industry Roadmap study, due to be released this month, in conjunction with the CSIRO, Australia’s peak scientific agency.

USSC Centre (4 March 2011)

The introduction of the Gillard Government’s proposed carbon tax is likely to accelerate the move by commercial airlines to adopt sustainable fuels, says Susan Pond, Centre adjunct professor with the Dow Sustainability Program .

The US Centre hosted a three-day forum looking at alternative fuels for commercial aviation as part of this week’s Avalon International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence Exposition in Victoria.

The forum saw presentations by representatives from Virgin, Qantas and Boeing among others. In a video interview now on our website, Dr Pond says that Australia is already quite involved in the global effort to find alternatives to petroleum, but that it is important to have government supporting research and development into biofuels.

Executive director of the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative, Richard Altman, co-led the forum with Susan Pond. In Australia as a visitor of the US Studies Centre, Mr Altman spoke to John Barron on ABC News Radio about the progress already made towards commercially viable biofuels capable of powering existing jet engines. Interview:

http://ussc.edu.au/news-room/Fuelling-the-future-of-aviation

Source: www.ussc.edu.au

A full report from the conference was not available in time for this issue, neither was the presentation at the conference by Nicole Williamson, Qantas Group Manager Climate Change Strategy and Programs, Qantas Airways. But we have obtained some relevant information from the Qantas website on  Sustainable fuels for aviation.

To accelerate the commercialisation of SAF, Qantas is working with aviation stakeholders on an Industry Roadmap study in conjunction with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s peak scientific agency.

The Roadmap is building on international developments, but focus on the unique advantages and challenges of our region. Specifically, it is looking at addressing barriers to a commercial and scalable SAF industry by bringing together stakeholders from aviation, scientific, traditional fuel supply, government and community groups.

The key challenges centre on scale, commercial viability, environmental sustainability and the selection of the most suitable biomass for our region’s climate and geography. Given the importance of aviation to the Australian and New Zealand economies, it is exciting to see our region leading the way in developing this Roadmap. Significantly, the Roadmap could also promote the development of new clean, ‘green’ energy businesses in regional areas.

The Roadmap report will be published in March 2011.