Whilst the all those back at Father Christmas’s grotto are taking the opportunity to put their feet up after a hard year’s work, the aviation industry is still beavering away into the New Year with continued efforts to reach their ambitious targets. During the past year, the aviation industry has shown remarkable unity with its determination to achieve targets of a 2% annual improvement in fuel efficiency globally until the year 2050 and a 50% reduction in emissions by 2050 over 2005 levels.
One important area being pursued by the aviation industry in order to achieve these targets is the development of alternative fuels for use in aircraft. This week, Rentech – a company working on clean energy solutions – was named a company of the year by Biofuels Digest for their advancement in the commercialisation of renewable fuels. Rentech received the award in recognition of significant contributions to the development of commercially-available renewable jet fuels which have led to successful flight tests by commercial airlines. Current activities being undertaken by Rentech include the development of a renewable energy facility in California that is anticipated to produce approximately 9.8 million gallons per year of renewable fuels and 35 megawatts of renewable power from green waste. In August, eight airlines signed a multi-year agreement to purchase up to 1.5 million gallons per year of renewable synthetic diesel (RenDiesel) from this project for ground service equipment operations at Los Angeles International Airport beginning in late 2012, when the plant is scheduled to go into service. Commenting on the achievements, Biofuels Digest editor Jim Lane stated his amazement "by the progress this year in aviation biofuels” and names aviation biofuels as one of the “hottest sectors in all of renewable energy."
Plane Talking
A good year for the aviation industry, so... time to relax?
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