https://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/environment-and-safety/quebec-biofuel-firm-signs-first-kind-deal-supply-australian-airline-204455/
Quebec biofuel firm signs first-of-its-kind deal to supply Australian
airline
The deal will see Quebec-based Agrisoma work with Australian farmers to
grow Carinata seeds, which will be used to produce oil suitable for
aviation
November 17, 2017
by Ross Marowits, The Canadian Press
MONTREAL—A Quebec biofuels company has signed its first deal to power an
airline’s jets with energy grown from Canadian oilseeds.
Agrisoma Biosciences Inc. of Gatineau will supply biofuel to Australia’s
Qantas Airways made from Carinata seed, a non-food, industrial type of
mustard seed that produces oil suitable for aviation and diesel fuel.
The partnership is the first of its kind in Australia and will see
Agrisoma work with Australian farmers to grow Carinata. That will be
complemented by seeds grown elsewhere to feed its global travel network.
The long-term goal is to grow the crop on 400,000 hectares to produce
more than 200 million litres of bio jet fuel and replace 30 to 50 per
cent of the airline’s annual fuel needs, said Agrisoma CEO Steven
Fabijanski.
He expects Qantas will begin to use the biofuel in 18 to 24 months.
International fuel standards limit biofuels to replace up to half of
fossil fuels, however traditional blends range between five and 30 per
cent green fuel, he said.
Fabijanski said the Agrisoma’s partnership with the Australian carrier
was a natural fit.
“The ability to be able to look at accessing this type of fuel on a
global basis was certainly attractive to them,” he said.
Qantas plans to conduct the world’s first biofuel flight between the
United States and Australia in January to show the benefits of the
renewable fuel, Fabijanski added.
Australia’s national carrier conducted its first biofuel trial flights
in 2012 using Airbus planes on two domestic routes. The fuel used was
derived from cooking oil that was mixed evenly with conventional jet fuel.
Qantas said it chose Agrisoma because the Carinata seed can be grown in
Australia and the Canadian company has a proven track record and is
committed to establishing a supply chain.
“Carinata is a seed crop that can be developed at a scale,” Alison
Webster, Qantas International’s chief executive, wrote in an email.
“Tests have shown it to grow efficiently in our Australian climate and
it provides biofuel that has as good an emissions reduction as any
biofuel, if not better.”
Webster added the airline is always looking for ways to reduce its
carbon footprint, something that is appreciated by customers.
“We know that consumers expect businesses to take action to help reduce
carbon emissions and using sustainable aviation biofuel is a key way for
airlines to do this.”
Agrisoma said its oil produces 77 per cent lower greenhouse gas
emissions than fossil fuels.
Fabijanski said sales of Carinata will be helped by a global airline
carbon reduction scheme and challenges other biofuel suppliers will face
in obtaining enough animal fat and waste oil.
“There’s a huge potential because all airlines have signed on to a
scheme where they’re going to be carbon neutral by 2020 and then cut
their carbon footprint by half by 2050,” he said.
The airline industry produced 781 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in
2015 or 12 per cent of emissions from transportation sources, according
to the Air Transport Action Group.
Less than five per cent of flights are currently flown using biofuel
blended with traditional jet fuel, but Fabijanski hopes that half of the
300 billion litres of fuel used by the airline industry will eventually
be replaced by biofuel.
Biofuel blends currently cost five to 10 per cent more than traditional
jet fuels depending on location. But Fabijanski said biofuel prices are
more stable than fossil fuels and the cost differential should
eventually disappear as supply expands with distribution hubs beyond Los
Angeles and Oslo.