Air Canada says it will use about 400,000 litres of jet fuel made from plant material as part of Canadian initiative to field test the fuel.
The fuel will be blended with regular jet fuel and will be the first mainstream use of a biofuel by a major carrier. The goal is to grow the program so that biofuel becomes a common constituent of the aviation fuel supply.
“We are pleased to support this important initiative by facilitating the logistics involved in the introduction of biojet to an airport’s shared fuel system,” said Teresa Ehman, Director – Environmental Affairs at Air Canada. “In doing our part towards responsible growth and environmental sustainability, Air Canada has invested billions of dollars in fleet renewal to reduce our fuel consumption and meet our current emission reduction goals. Biojet holds the potential to be an important part of our strategy for achieving our longer-term industry goals of carbon neutral growth from 2020 and a 50 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050, relative to 2005 levels. The CBSCI project will contribute significantly to advancing a biojet supply chain in this country.”
The project is being done in cooperation with Canada’s Biojet Supply Chain Initiative (CBSCI) which is made up of government and private sector organizations and companies.