The Thomson Airways Boeing 757-200 departed at 14.25 for the four hour flight to Arrecife on the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, its engines powered by a mix of standard fuel and biofuel made from waste cooking oil supplied by Dutch company SkyNRG. The flight was originally scheduled to take place in July 2011, but had to be delayed due to fuel delivery problems. The BBC reported the October flight will be a one-off, to allow a regular supply of oil to be sourced.
Sustainable Biofuels and Aviation
Chris Browne, Thomson Airways Managing Director, confirmed the airline's commitment to investing in sustainable aviation fuel. “This is a very exciting day for Thomson Airways,” he said in a statement. “We firmly believe the adoption of sustainable biofuels by airlines will help achieve the Government’s carbon budget which commits the UK to reduce its carbon emissions by 50% by 2025. Most strikingly, sustainable biofuel has the potential to reduce aviation emissions by up to 80% in the long term.”
A number of airlines have undertaken similar test runs using biofuels, including a Virgin Atlantic flight of a passenger-less Boeing 747 between London and Amsterdam in 2008. KLM, Aeromexico and Lufthansa have also flown commercial flight using biofuel blends, according to Business Green magazine.
The government's aviation minister Theresa Villiers said in the Guardian, “Sustainable biofuels have a role to play in efforts to tackle climate change, particularly in sectors where no other viable low carbon energy source has been identified – as is the case with aviation. We want aviation to flourish and grow but we have also been clear that the environmental impacts of flying must be addressed.”
The Sustainability of Biofuels
Biofuels, initially hailed as an alternative to fossil fuels, have become increasingly controversial in recent years. Kenneth Richter, biofuels campaigner at Friends of the Earth, told the Guardian, “Biofuels won't make flying any greener – their production is wrecking rainforests, pushing up food prices and causing yet more climate-changing emissions.”
The Thomson Airways flight used biofuel from waste fats, a sustainable yet relatively small source. The Guardian reported calculations made by Friends of the Earth to the effect that each of the flight's 232 passengers on Thursday's flight would have to save all of their chip fat for 100 years in order to provide enough to power the plane.
Thomson Airways plan to start daily operations using biofuels from early 2012 for approximately six weeks. As sustainable biofuels become more commercially viable, the company plans to expand its use across the fleet.
Paris Franz - Paris Franz is a London-based freelance journalist, specialising in the arts, history and travel.
