British Airways set to fly on fuel from garbage

British Airways is planning to establish Europe’s first green jet fuel plant that would turn rubbish into carbon-neutral aviation fuel by the year 2014.   According to the Independent, British Airways would establish the plant, in collaboration with the US bioenergy company Solena.

When it is up and running in 2014, the factory will turn 500,000 tonnes of landfill waste — including household and industrial rubbish — into 16 million gallons of carbon-neutral aviation fuel every year.

It will produce enough fuel to power all of BA’s flights from nearby City Airport twice over. With 95% fewer emissions than traditional kerosene, the plan will be equivalent to taking 48,000 cars off the roads.

There are four sites under consideration for the plant, which will be built and run by Washington D.C. -based Solena, with BA guaranteed to buy all of its output.

Biofuel for jets has made slow progress, hampered by tricky technicalities including the necessary high energy capacity, and the extreme cold at which it must operate.

But the fuel to be produced at Solena’s London plant will be different. Rather than existing types that must be blended with normal fossil fuel jet fuel, Solena is aiming for a green fuel sufficient to fly the aircraft without any jet fuel added. The scheme will help BA to meet its target to cut net carbon emissions by 50% by 2050, the firm said.

Via Times of India