Air Transport World: Airbus, Boeing committed to biofuels but differ on target date

Monday June 23, 2008 

Airbus and Boeing are taking steps to ensure green manufacturing and develop environmentally friendly aircraft dismantling processes while working alongside engine OEMs and airlines to pursue development of sustainable biofuels.

"We get it. We understand that there are environmental issues out there," Airbus North America VP and General Counsel Renee Martin-Nagle said Friday at the Eco-Aviation conference presented by Air Transport World and Leeham Co in Washington. "We are doing what we can as a manufacturer and as an industrial leader." Airbus has set manufacturing targets for 2020 that include a 30% reduction in energy consumption, a 50% reduction in waste and a 50% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

Both Martin-Nagle and Boeing MD-Environmental Strategy Billy Glover see a bright future for biofuels, although they differed somewhat on a timeline. "It's a long process," Martin-Nagle said. "We have to move through a testing phase and then it has to be proved. I'd say 8-10 years."

Glover, by contrast, told attendees, "I'm quite a bit more optimistic. Sooner than 2013, we think it's possible that low blends will be certified. . .I think we're going to see this in commercial service much sooner [than expected]. . . The progress in the last few years has been remarkable."

Airbus recently announced a partnership with JetBlue Airways, IAE, Honeywell and its subsidiary UOP to develop a sustainable second-generation biofuel (ATWOnline, May 16). On Friday Martin-Nagle said, "One of the things we're seriously considering is algae."

Boeing is participating with Continental Airlines and GE Aviation to conduct a biofuels demonstration flight in the first half of 2009 using one of CO's 737NGs (ATWOnline, March 14). It also is involved in an upcoming demonstration by Air New Zealand and Rolls-Royce using a fuel made from the jatropha plant. Boeing took part with Virgin Atlantic Airways, GE Aviation and Imperium Renewables in the first airline biofuels test flight last February. 

Martin-Nagle said Airbus is continuing to look at airframe disassembly and recycling. The Pamela project, which took apart an A300B4 and recycled 84% of the material, "took a year, which is not economically viable." The company is paying special attention to composite recycling because residual chemicals may require special handling and disposal, she said.

by Sandra Arnoult