NRDC Releases 2016 Aviation Biofuel Scorecard

by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) The National Resources Defense Council has released its 2016 Aviation Biofuel Scorecard, which rates airlines on the sourcing and use of biofuels. The scorecard is now in its third year.

According to the NDRC, 29 airlines were surveyed for the 2016 report. Reponses were received from 19, an improvement over the 17 that responded in 2015. Rather than ranking airlines individually, this year the NDRC grouped airlines into one of four categories: leading, advancing, basic and nonresponsive. According to the report, the categories were decided on the basis of commitments to sustainable fuel supply chain development, sustainable fuel use, and monitoring and disclosure.

The report includes information on regulatory processes and industry engagement in supply chain development. It notes aviation greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are facing unprecedented regulatory scrutiny, including efforts by the International Civil Aviation Organization to cap GHGs from international flights and work by the ICAO and U.S. EPA to develop GHG emissions standards for aircraft engines.

The scorecard also describes eight specific recommendations suggested by the NRDC, including a recommendation that airlines make public commitments source only RSB-certified biofuels. READ MORE and MORE / MORE (NRDC) Download report

Excerpt from NRDC: Even though the aviation industry represents the transportation sector with the fastest growing greenhouse gas emissions—and is not regulated under the recent Paris Agreement to combat climate change—it has set commendable goals to shrink its carbon footprint. Specifically, the industry has pledged to:

In its third installment, NRDC’s Aviation Biofuel Scorecard aims to encourage airline leadership to adopt truly sustainable biofuels using rigorous third-party certification standards—such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB)—that assure reduced emissions across a biofuel’s entire life cycle, from production through use, as well as limiting adverse impacts on food security, land, water, air, wildlife, and local communities. The Scorecard has emerged as the premier global measure of airlines’ progress toward this goal.

We surveyed 29 leading international airlines and broke them out into four categories: Leading, Advancing, Basic, and Non-respondent. While much remains to be done to achieve, and perhaps exceed, the industry’s goals, we found much progress toward cleaner and friendlier skies. READ MORE