Virgin chief Branson: Low carbon jet fuel has big potential

Dec 5, 2011, 11:04 GMT

Durban, South Africa - Low carbon jet fuel could replace up to 20 per cent of jet fuel in the next five years, according to a new project launched Monday by Virgin Atlantic head Richard Branson's Carbon War Room.

On the sidelines of UN climate talks in Durban, the group unveiled an information service that it said was the world's first index to analyze leading companies engaged in producing renewable fuel on a commercial scale for aviation.

The idea is to connect airlines with reliable information about renewable fuels and break down market barriers, the sponsors said.

It named the five top companies, measured according to their economic viability and ability to sustain production: LanzaTech of New Zealand; SGbiofuels of San Diego, California; the US-based AltAir; Solazyme of San Francisco; and US-based Sapphire.

The full details are available at RenewableJetFuels.org, which intends to rate the top 2,000 bioenergy-related companies. Elsevier, a leading scientific publisher, is involved in the project.

Branson, who was not present at the unveiling, said in a statement that the information service was intended to fill a gap between the airlines and the available alternatives to fossil fuel, and to accelerate delivery of cleaner approaches to air travel.

'One of the most important ways to reduce carbon output from airlines all over the world is to have viable renewable alternatives to jet fuel,' Branson said.

The project found that only about one-third of companies now claiming to be able to deliver renewable jet fuel on a large scale were 'credible' in their current state. But in the next five years, some of the companies could produce enough renewable fuel to replace 10 to 20 per cent of the fuel of a typical mid-sized airline.