Eco-efficiencyat every step of the aircraft life-cycle
… / Operations / Alternative fuels

Alternative fuels

Air Traffic Management 

Supporting industry initiatives

The development of multiple supply sources, such as camelina, is a key element of Airbus’ approach to the future of alternative fuels.

Airbus believes that alternative fuels should be primarily reserved for the aviation industry, since there currently are not any other viable energy sources foreseen in the coming years. The company’s strategy is based on being the catalyst in the search for sustainable solutions leading to production of commercial quantities of alternative aviation fuels.

A new industry-wide initiative to speed up aviation biofuel commercialisation in Europe has been launched by Airbus, the European Commission, leading European airlines and key European biofuel producers. This initiative, called the “European Advanced Biofuel Flightpath,” is committed to supporting and promoting the production, storage and distribution of sustainably produced drop-in biofuels for aviation use. 

The objective is to reach two million tonnes of production and consumption by 2020, which represents roughly four per cent of the aviation fuel used across the European Union.

Airbus strategy

Alternative fuel research is a core tenet of Airbus’ initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of air transport, lowering its overall CO2 footprint. 

Airbus’ premise is based on establishing local sustainable solutions in communities around the world, because the company believes that multiple supply source solutions – such as camelina, jatropha, algae, yeast, woodchips and organic waste – can co-exist. 

Once sources are established, the next phase would focus on expediting the use of alternative fuels commercially, enabling the air transport industry to meet the targets of carbon neutral growth by 2020, and the 75 per cent CO2 reductions established by the Flightpath 2050 vision.

Alternative fuels roadmap

With an adequate supply of sources such as jatropha, Airbus believes one-third of aviation fuel could come from alternative sources by 2030.

Airbus’ launch of an alternative fuels roadmap has led to collaborative projects and flights with airline partners, along with the recent approval of 50 per cent blends of biomass to liquid (BTL) and hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) fuels on commercial flights. In one partnership effort, Lufthansa performed daily bio-fuel flights using a 50 per cent blend of jatropha-based fuel in one engine on an A321.

Airbus also is working with the European Commission and other stakeholders to develop a European roadmap for the implementation of aviation biofuels in the European Advanced Biofuel Flightpath initiative. 

With adequate supply sources that have the ability to produce commercial quantities of alternative fuel, and support from governments, Airbus believes that up to a third of aviation fuel could come from alternative sources by 2030.

The Value Chain

Airbus is leading this supply effort through an ambitious global program connecting farmers, refiners and the airlines to form regional bio-fuel value chains. Researchers in Brazil are working on a bio-jet fuel created from the jatropha plant – with 4,000 hectares being grown for production. 

The company also teamed with Virgin Australia Airlines to support the cultivating of eucalyptus in Australia, and Airbus is supporting the development of 2,000 hectares of camelina for aviation fuel in Spain. Additionally, it is endorsing an initiative in Qatar to transform micro-algae into a sustainable source. These local partnerships are designed to help airlines benefit from local knowledge and connections, as well as encourage area farmers with the confidence that crops will be bought by refiners – which in turn have the airlines as customers. 

As airlines fly across continents and have to be able to refuel anywhere, the goal is to establish local value chains on every continent by the end of 2012. Programmes have already been established in Latin America, Australia, Europe and the Middle East. Additionally, Airbus partnered with China’s Tsinghua University and the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) in 2012 to explore fuel sources, develop a value chain, and produce aviation biofuel for use in the country – which is home to one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets.

Airbus’ role in the value chain is to lead and manage the sustainability, assessment and lifecycle analysis. The company also will be monitoring any feasibility studies to ensure any solution developed can satisfy the sustainability criteria approved by the Round Table on Sustainable Bio-fuels, of which Airbus is a member.

Operations Air Traffic Management 

Did you know?

"In the last 40 years, the aviation industry has cut fuel burn and CO2 emissions by70%, NOx emissions by 90% and noise by 75%."

Downloads