Virgin Australia is going to experiment with biofuels on flights out of Brisbane
Brisbane: Virgin Australia will run a two-year trial mixing biojet fuels with regular avgas on flights out of Brisbane in a move the challenger airline is claiming as a world first.
US-based renewable fuel producer Gevo Inc will supply the biojet, through Brisbane Airport’s fuel supply system, where it will be mixed with traditional jet fuel and supplied on flights departing Brisbane in a two-year trial that will begin before Christmas.
Virgin Australia Group will coordinate the purchase, supply and blending of the fuels working with the Queensland government, Brisbane Airport Corporation Gevo Inc and others in a bid to lower the company’s carbon emissions. The airline says it’s the first time in the world that biojet produced using the alcohol-to-jet process will be supplied to an airport’s regular fuel supply system. Biojet is made from a range of plant-based materials such as sugarcane bagasse, molasses, wood waste and agave, and has the potential to be produced in Australia.
The first aviation biojet fuels were approved for commercial flights in 2011.
It is already used at major airports in Oslo and Los Angeles, including for Virgin services between LA and Australia’s east coast.
Virgin Australia chief executive officer John Borghetti said the Brisbane trial was crucial for testing the fuel supply chain infrastructure in Australia. Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk hopes that it will be the beginning of a local biojet production industry.