Jetrader - May/June 2011 - 22

Chart 2: Regional Biofuels Projects Aviation’s pursuit of a lower carbon footprint has seen Boeing step to the forefront of regional biofuel projects to tap potential feedstocks in various parts of the globe. As this chart illustrates, these regional assessments range from as far aﬁeld as China to several spots in the U.S. In Australasia in 2010, for example, the Regional Biofuels Projects manufacturer joined Air New Zealand, Qantas and Virgin Australia to launch a sustainable aviation fuels “roadmap” project. And closer to home, Boeing joined w ith Alaska Airlines, the Port of Seattle, Portland and Spokane airports, and Washington State University to evaluate Northwest-based feedstock and processing opportunities. “Our objective is to include as many of the stakeholders as possible to identify candidate feedstocks and consider the environmental impacts. It’s a rigorous process,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes Environmental Strategy Director Mike Hurd. The company hopes to assemble a public-domain report of the regional assessments that can be made available to policy makers to help drive regional biofuel development. (Chart: Boeing)

Production and Price Challenges
While the industry remains excited by the potential of algae-based fuels, the production hurdles are higher and farther off. “Algae have a lot going for them in terms of yield potential. However, there’s more technology development required and we’re probably a decade or so from seeing broad scale-up,” Hurd said. “Hopefully it can happen sooner.” While the industry’s excited about its potential, Hurd says it hasn’t lost sight of what it will take to sustain interest in renewable fuels. “We keep reminding ourselves that it’s still very early in their maturity, and potentially we can open the avenue to a wider variety of feedstocks and more advanced conversion technologies and help us solve the initial supply challenges,” Hurd said. And then there’s the price. “With fuel now typically the No. 1 airline operating cost, any alternative fuels must be competitive,” Hurd said. We think it’s important for global policy makers to consider what they can do to incentivize the industry development through policy mechanisms.” Thanks to Boeing for providing editorial materials for this article.

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Jetrader - May/June 2011

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