|3 October 2016|
Europe
A European Union (EU) biofuel initiative to support the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is being backed by the biggest names in the industry.
The European Advanced Biofuels Flightpath programme was launched in 2011 by the European Commission, Airbus, leading European airlines and biofuel producers to promote the production, distribution, storage and use of sustainably produced and technically certified aviation biofuels.
It is supported by Neste, Biochemtex, Honeywell UOP, Swedish Biofuels, and Total. The airlines involved are KLM, Air France, British Airways, and Lufthansa.
The initiative aims at getting biofuels to the market faster, through the construction of advanced biofuel production plants in Europe, and at setting a target level to the amount of sustainable biofuels used in European civil aviation.
Henrik Erämetsä, Head of Aviation Regulation at Neste, is Co-Chair of the EU initiative. He said: “Aviation is the most rapidly growing segment of traffic. Sustainable biofuels along with reduced fuel consumption of aeroplanes and increased operational efficiency offer us means to lower the carbon footprint caused by increased aviation in the EU. They also contribute to reaching the IATA target of carbon-neutral growth of airline industry from 2020 and subsequent reduction of carbon emission. I am glad to be able to use my expertise in pursuing the targets.”
