A hot topic at the Aviation and Environment Summit, biofuels are in the news for good reason. Airbus and Virgin Australia have announced today the enlargement of a consortium to research and develop commercial sustainable aviation fuels. Western Australia’s fertile wheat belt has been the recent home of eucalyptus mallee trees, sustainably grown, harvested and [...]

What is I-4D? – despite the name, it is not the latest craze for cinema goers, but is in fact the culmination of a smart new air traffic management technology delivered by SESAR (Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research) with the help of Airbus, Eurocontrol, Honeywell, Indra, Noracon1, and Thales. February 10, 2012, was [...]

There has been a lot of talk on this blog and elsewhere about the prospects for aviation biofuels, but little mention about the possibility of feedstocks to be grown in Europe. That all changed yesterday with the announcement of a project to develop sustainable aviation biofuel feedstock production in Romania. This project, being led by [...]

The name Lockheed has not been heard in relation to commercial passenger aircraft for some time. Their last passenger aircraft, the L1011 TriStar, ended production in 1984 and the company, now called Lockheed Martin, has since focused on the military (although it does provide many civil transport systems and components). It was interesting, therefore to [...]

Delegates here could be forgiven for getting cabin fever – between the delegate-filled hotels, the delegate-filled buses and the security cordon zone, we are surrounded by climate policy geeks. It is good to remember there is a world of stuff happening outside this army / police / navy controlled security zone, especially when there doesn’t [...]

For the first time yesterday, an Airbus A320 flew on biofuel – its energy supplied by 50% biofuel from the jatropha plant and 50% normal Jet A1 fuel. Importantly, the test flight took place in Brazil, using Brazilian-grown jatropha and with Brazil’s national carrier TAM Airlines. It was the first such test flight to take [...]

At Farnborough, we caught up with Paul Nash, Head of New Energies for Airbus.  In this video, he shares examples of how Airbus is using synthetic fuels today, tells how Airbus is taking a catalyst role in speeding up the commercialisation of biofuels and outlines the issues the industry faces the move towards carbon neutral [...]

Day two at Farnborough and already many of the manufacturers are announcing orders with more to follow. The business of the show is business, after all, and it is fascinating to walk round the trade show and realise just how many different companies are involved in the aviation industry, with all the jobs and economic [...]

Perfect weather and a great day for the opening of the Farnborough Air Show.  Next to the show news at every entrance, visitors could also pick up copies of the Green Flight Times and new Beginner’s Guide to Aviation Efficiency. Green flight was a theme that carried throughout the day.  First, we had a tour [...]

Today’s Guest Blogger is Dr. Rainer Ohler, SVP Public Affairs & Communications at Airbus.  In the first of a series of posts, he explores why the global need for more air travel is not inconsistent with creating a better environment and should be balanced with a greener world. As the dust (or volcanic ash) settles, [...]