Aviation Switch to Low-Carbon Fuel - A Reality

Around 7,000 airlines could easily change to using low-carbon fuels faster than any other form of transport due to the fact that there are very few refuelling stations according to Richard Branson.

There are around 1,700 aviation refuelling stations in the whole world unlike cars which have millions of places to refuel. Therefore changing to a fuel such as mass-produced algae then transporting it to 1,700 outlets would not be too difficult according to Richard Branson.

Steel and Aluminium plants produce gases which could be used as jet fuel and Branson hoped that his fleet of aircraft would soon be using this fuel. He also hoped that the industry as a whole would be able to use around 50% sustainable fuels within the next ten years.

He went on to say that he would be disappointed if this didn’t happen with aviation fuel making up 25 to 40% of running costs of any airline. Getting to 50 to 100% of bio fuels used by airlines is very realistic.

Branson was at the launch of RenewableJetFuels.org in Durban. The website updates how much progress is made by companies looking to produce renewable fuel for the aviation market. According to the website there are around one third of the 40 companies who say they can produce large amounts of bio fuel are credible. The site also claims that within five years some companies could be producing renewable fuel to replace as much as 20% of the fuel on a mid-sized airline.

This sort of information should allow fuel companies and airlines to linkup and negotiate a deal. Producers of jet fuels can update data. This data is then reviewed independently by industry experts.

Virgin Airways spend around $3bn per year on jet fuel. According to Branson it makes economic sense to look for an alternative which in time could become a cheaper alternative too.

Virgin flew a plane to Holland three years ago on coconut fuel. At the time nobody took it seriously. However since then other companies have been experimenting with bio-fuels after previously saying it was just a PR stunt by Virgin. In fact what it did was kick start a discussion on the use of bio fuels.

It is hoped that the industry could move from being one of the dirtiest industries to one of the cleanest all within ten years. The leading companies in the bio fuel market are Sapphire, AltAir, SG biofuels, Lanzatech and Solazyme.

Jet Hire Direct provide private jet hire to and from a number of worldwide destinations.