British Airways are leading the way with an innovative scheme to turn household waste into jet fuel. According to the company’s recent press release, it has joined forces with Velocys, a company that specialises in renewable energy, in an attempt to develop long-term, sustainable fuel options for its fleet of aircraft.
At present, the UK still sends around 15million tonnes of waste to landfill or incineration plants every year. Much of this rubbish consists of items such as disposable nappies, sweet wrappers, plastic food containers. BA intends to divert hundreds of thousands of tonnes of this rubbish to a new plant specifically designed to convert these waste items into clean-burning jet fuel. They say that they are committed to reduce net emissions by 50% by the year 2050 and this new scheme is the first step towards achieving this goal.
What routes will use the new fuel?
It’s estimated that the new plant will be able to power all 787 Transatlantic Dreamliner operated flights for a whole year to two destinations; New Orleans in Louisiana and San Jose in California. The company also hopes to steadily expand to other routes within the next 10 years.
Government support
British Airways’ new plans also seem to have gained traction in official circles. The DoT (Department of Transport) has recently unveiled new rules for the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO) which includes the type of jet fuel that BA are planning to use. The obvious aim is to promote the idea of renewable jet fuel in the hopes it will gain wider suppport in the future.
According to the press release, the new fuel will deliver a 60% reduction in greenhouse gases compared to the standard fuel that’s currently being used and will also help increase the air quality around airports.
Future hopes
The jet fuel produced at the plant will deliver more than 60 per cent greenhouse gas reduction, compared with conventional fossil fuel, delivering 60,000 tonnes of CO2 savings every year. This will contribute to both global carbon emissions reduction and local air quality improvements around major airports