Qantas, Agrisoma, Honeywell, AltAir, WFS Partner in Historic First Pacific Jet Biofuels Flight

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January 30, 2018

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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... The world’s first dedicated biofuel flight between the United States and Australia, QF96 from Los Angeles to Melbourne, has departed from LAX and arrives roughly at Digest press time.

The trans-Pacific 15 hour flight will operate with approximately 24,000kg of blended biofuel, saving 18,000kg in carbon emissions. Qantas will use biofuel processed from Brassica Carinata, a non-food, industrial type of mustard seed, developed by Canadian-based agricultural-technology company, Agrisoma Biosciences (Agrisoma). Across its lifecycle, using Carinata-derived biofuel can reduce carbon emissions by eighty percent compared to traditional jet fuel.

The ten percent biofuel blend used on today’s flight will therefore see a seven percent reduction in emissions on this route compared to normal operations.

The flight is part of the partnership announced in 2017 which will also see the companies work with Australian farmers to grow the country’s first commercial aviation biofuel seed crop by 2020.

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Agrisoma’s biojet fuel is made by harvesting tonnes of Carinata crop, crushing the grain to recover the oil and converting that oil into jet fuel using the same process to make petroleum-derived jet fuel. The biojet fuel that is made, provides for a very significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, making travel greener and cleaner for the environment. The oil is then sent to bio-refineries for conventional processing into jet fuel.

AltAir, which converted the Carinata oil into jet fuel, operates the world’s first commercial-scale renewable jet fuel plant at the AltAir Paramount refinery in Paramount, Calif. The plant produces 35 million gallons per year of renewable fuels, including Honeywell Green Jet Fuel, using Honeywell’s UOP Renewable Jet Fuel process, which produces fuels that are chemically identical to petroleum-based fuels.

Fuel for the flight was produced by AltAir Paramount LLC using Honeywell UOP’s Renewable Jet Fuel process technology, which converts non-edible animal fats and oils into renewable fuels. Delivery of the fuel to the aircraft is provided by supply partner World Fuel Services from Miami, Florida.

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It is sown in either fallow areas where food crops fail or in between regular crop cycles, known as “cover cropping”. Rotational or break-crops can improve soil quality, reduce erosion for food crops and provide farmers with additional income. READ MORE

Gatineau Biofuel Company Helping to Revolutionize Airline Industry (CTV Ottawa)

Quebec startup’s biofuel powers transoceanic flight (Globe & Mail)

Qantas 787 Dreamliner takes off fuelled by mustard seed biofuel on Los Angeles-Melbourne flight (Traveller)

Qantas flight QF96 to feature biofuel blend (Australian Aviation)

Qantas: First ever US-Australia flight powered by mustard seeds takes off (Independent)

WORLD FIRST US-AUSTRALIA BIOFUEL FLIGHT TAKES OFF (Quantas)

Qantas: First US-Australia biofuel flight takes off (Biomass Magazine)

Qantas completes first trans-Pacific biofuels flight (Biofuels International)

Qantas uses 150 acres of mustard seeds, an area of land bigger than the Vatican City, to power just ONE 15 hour biofuel flight between LA and Melbourne (Daily Mail)

Carinata Fuels Qantas 787 On Transpacific Biofuel Flight (Aviation Week)

Qantas uses mustard seeds in first ever biofuel flight between Australia and US (The Guardian)

Latest sustainability report outlines how fast-growing Qatar Airways is facing up to its environmental challenge (GreenAir Online)

Gatineau biofuel company makes history with Qantas flight (CBC)

Carinata seed distribution agreement discussions underway (Agrisoma/Biodiesel Magazine)

Qantas transpacific biofuel flight heralds future for farming of carinata oilseed crop in Australia (GreenAir Online)

Revolutionizing the jet fuel industry with biofuel made from oilseed (Phys.org/University of Southern California)

Excerpt from GreenAir Online: Qatar Airways is also supporting research into alternative fuels and is investing in an algae biofuel project led by Qatar University’s Centre for Sustainable Development. The first stage of the project involved establishing indoor laboratories and an outdoor demonstration facility to cultivate, harvest and analyse large-scale micro-algae production with the potential to apply biomass to biofuel production. A second stage will identify the optimal strains of algae and fuel types to be produced, and will include pilot studies into large-scale production. It will also incorporate environmental impact assessment and economic feasibility studies.

A key objective of the Group is accreditation to recognised independent certification schemes. Qatar Airways launched a programme in December 2015 to attain the highest level in IATA’s Environmental Assessment (IEnvA) programme, and last month it received IEnvA Stage 2 certification to become the first airline in the Middle East and fifth worldwide to do so.

During the 2016-17 reporting year, Hamad International Airport, which is managed by the Group, became the first airport in the Gulf Cooperation Council to achieve Level 3 of Airports Council International’s carbon accreditation programme.

The airport has set a new target to improve its carbon efficiency per passenger by 30% before 2030. It reports an 11.9% improvement in the metric during the reporting period compared to the previous year. An energy management programme has identified 325 individual initiatives for optimising lighting, heaters, transformers and ventilation and cooling systems.

With one of the lowest levels of annual rainfall in the world, water conservation is of prime importance, especially as total water consumption at the airport increased by 7% last year as a result of increased passenger numbers. However, there was a 9% improvement in efficiency compared to the previous year. The airport’s waste water treatment plant that was commissioned in November 2014 with a capacity to treat over 28,000m3 of waste water per day received 18% more waste water in 2016-17 than the previous year, recovering 91% of the waste water treated. The airport is engaged in a number of initiatives to save water that cover optimising irrigation, retrofitting faucet aerators, saving water during fire pump tests and harvesting condensation.

Last month, experts from Kahramaa’s National Programme for Conservation and Energy Efficiency delivered technical energy and water conservation training to facility management employees from the airline and airport. It was part of a memorandum of understanding to work together on a range of technical initiatives, as well as building staff and community awareness in relation to water conservation, energy efficiency systems and renewable energy.

Wildlife conservation is also an important issue for the Group and in March 2016, Qatar Airways signed the United for Wildlife Transport Industry Declaration at Buckingham Palace in London. As the world’s third largest international air cargo carrier, the airline says it adheres to industry best practice for the welfare of live animals in transportation and has a zero tolerance policy towards the illegal transportation of endangered species through its network. READ MORE