Quebec-developed biofuel made of mustard powers flight
MONTREAL• Passengers aboard a United Airlines flight heading to Zurich from San Francisco on Friday will be propelled in part by a Canadian-developed biofuel derived from a type of mustard seed.
Agrisoma Biosciences Inc. is the Quebec firm behind the biofuel made from Carinata mustard, and company founder and president Steve Fabijanski believes it could help dramatically decarbonize the aviation industry.
“For me, this is a very good example of Canadian innovation and especially innovation from Quebec in terms of looking at green solutions,” he said in an interview from Paris.
Thirty per cent of the jet fuel used in the Boeing will be replaced by the biofuel, leading the company to proclaim the plane will emit 30 per cent less greenhouse gases than a regular flight.
Fabijanski said he believes his company’s product is the greenest biofuel ever used in a plane to date and that partnering with United Airlines will serve as a showcase for attracting new projects. With a flight time of 11 hours, the California-to-Switzerland flight will be the longest transatlantic trip to date using biofuels and the second time Agrisoma’s mustardbased product will be used in a commercial flight.
Last Jan. 28, it was used in a 15-hour transpacific Qantas flight between Australia and the U.S. In that instance, the biofuel replaced 10 per cent of the jet fuel.
Currently, the technical and regulatory rules limit to 50 per cent the amount of biofuel that can be used in commercial aircraft.
“Fifty per cent is the goal (for the company) and at 50 per cent, you’re making a significant impact in terms of greenhouse-gas emissions,” said Fabijanski.
As the number of air passengers has steadily grown, the aviation industry has set as a goal reducing CO2 emissions by 50 per cent compared to 2005 levels. The industry is responsible for two to three per cent of global emissions.
United Continental Holdings Inc. said Thursday that it would cut its carbon emissions by half over 2005 levels, by 2050, matching an industry target set by the International Air Transport Association.
“I would describe the biofuels in aviation as an evolution over time,” said Aaron Robinson, senior manager for environmental strategy and sustainability at Chicago-based United, which first made biofuel part of its routine operations in 2016 at its Los Angeles hub. The company in 2015 invested US$30 million for a stake in Fulcrum BioEnergy Inc., which takes household solid waste and converts it to a liquid that is blended with regular jet fuel.
Beyond the supply at LAX, airports in Oslo, Stockholm and Bergen, Norway, offer biofuels to blend into existing fuel supplies. As of June, more than 130,000 commercial flights have been powered by biofuel, according to the IATA. Such flights are limited by industry standard to a maximum 50 per cent blend with regular jet fuel.
The head of Cycle Capital Management, one of Agrisoma’s principal investors, didn’t hesitate to promote the virtues of biofuel.
“If we put just 10 per cent of this fuel in all the planes around the world, we would accomplish great things,” said Andrée-Lise Méthot, the founder of the clean-tech venture capital fund manager.
On top of the aviation industry, Méthot said one of the main qualities of Carinata mustard is that it can grow on land that is not meant to feed people. So unlike ethanol, for example, its cultivation is not done at the expense of food.
Once the oil is extracted from the plant, the residue becomes a protein-rich byproduct that can be used as feed for livestock.
“Carinata grows when nothing grows, it grows in difficult conditions, it’s what I call a seed adapted to climate change and, in addition, it yields two beautiful products: biofuel and organic food for animals,” she said.