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Airbus began a long-term research programme into the viability of alternative fuels in 2006, seeking to understand the potential benefits and challenges of these fuels. The company’s ultimate goal is to create a carbon neutral aviation industry.
Research is focusing on ways to reduce CO2 and other emissions. Specific studies will also look at operational benefits for airlines, such as enhanced payload range, reduced fuel burn and increased engine durability.
In the first instance, Airbus is concentrating on alternative fuels that are, or will be, available in the short term in sufficient quantities as to make a practical improvement in the mid-term future. But Airbus expects that other alternatives will be identified by the beginning of the next decade. These should include second generation bio-fuel and bio-fuel blends, created from a biomass which does not compete with food crops for land or water, nor with natural carbon sinks such as rain forest.
For now, gas-to-liquid (GTL) fuel, a technology that converts natural gas to liquid kerosene, is one of the most practical alternatives. Its properties are similar to conventional jet fuel, making it a “drop-in” replacement for today’s kerosene, capable of being used in today’s aero engines. It has attractive characteristics for local air quality, as well as potential benefits in terms of fuel burn, and could be made available at convenient locations.
Practical steps
Airbus agreed at the 2007 Dubai Air Show to study the feasibility of using GTL. The other signatories were Qatar Airways, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Fuels, Qatar Science and Technology Park, Rolls-Royce and Shell International Petroleum Company.
Shortly afterwards, early in 2008, an Airbus A380 flew from Filton in the United Kingdom to Toulouse in France, burning GTL fuel in one of its four engines. This was the first of many flights that will test the environmental impact of alternative fuels.
Eventually, second-generation biofuels could be used, but they are not presently available in commercial quantities, particularly due to the need to find large quantities of suitable biomass that do not compete with land and water use for food crops.
