Boeing, Embraer Partner to Develop Aviation Biofuel

by | May 13, 2014

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Boeing and Embraer will open a joint research center to advance a sustainable aviation biofuel industry in Brazil.

Under a memorandum of understanding, the research conducted at the center will focus on technologies that address gaps in a supply chain for sustainable aviation biofuel in Brazil, such as feedstock production and processing technologies.

In 2013, Boeing, Embraer and the Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa of the State of Sao Paulo (FAPESP) completed an action plan, Flightpath to Aviation Biofuels in Brazil, that identified gaps in a potential biofuel supply chain. The joint research between Boeing and Embraer will help address those gaps.

When produced sustainably, aviation biofuel emits 50 to 80 percent lower carbon emissions through its lifecycle than petroleum jet fuel. Globally, more than 1,500 passenger flights using biofuel have been conducted since the fuel was approved for use in 2011.

In March Boeing, South African Airways (SAA) and the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials launched an initiative to expand opportunities for “smallhold” farmers in Southern Africa to grow crops that produce sustainable fuels. Additionally, Boeing and research partners in the United Arab Emirates are collaborating on a project to test desert plants fed by seawater called halophytes, which the partners say will produce aviation biofuel more efficiently than other feedstocks.

 

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