Latam Proves its Commitment to Cleaner Skies – TAM, Airbus & CFM to Hold Latam’s 1st Demonstration Flight with Bio-Kerosene
ALTA, the Latin American & Caribbean Air Transport Association, and its members are staying true to their commitment for a more environmentally-friendly industry. As unanimously passed during ALTA’s Annual General Meeting in October 2009, the association is continuing to work on a variety of initiatives in support of the industry’s commitment to reduce average emissions by 1.5 percent per year by 2020, to become carbon neutral by 2020, and a goal of 50 percent reduction in net emissions by 2050 compared to 2005. In addition, ALTA continues to support a global solution, through ICAO.
ALTA commends three of its members who have joined forces to lead Latin America’s commitment to cleaner skies. TAM, with the help of Airbus and CFM International, will hold Latin America’s first demonstration flight with bio-kerosene using Brazilian vegetable biomass, the Jatropha plant. Studies point to a reduction of up to 80 percent in carbon emissions.
“We are proud of innovators TAM, Airbus and CFM International in underscoring Latin America’s commitment to cleaner skies,” says ALTA’s Executive Director Alex de Gunten. “We will continue supporting the airlines and the industry as we reiterate our commitment to serving as a channel for sharing best practices in order to achieve a cleaner, more environmentally-friendly air transport industry.”
TAM plans to hold a demonstration flight (non-commercial) in the second half of 2010 with a mixture of aviation bio-fuel that includes Brazilian vegetable biomass, the Jatropha plant. The airplane will be a TAM Airbus A320 equipped with CFM56-5B engines produced by CFM International, 50/50 joint company of GE on the United States and Snecma (Safran Group) of France.
TAM´s CEO, Líbano Barroso, highlights that the company honors its social and sustainability commitments through such an initiative: “We have put forth our best efforts to use Brazilian raw materials in the production of this bio-fuel, with significant economic and social gains. A source of aviation bio-kerosene, the biomass is 100 percent domestic, resulting from family agricultural projects and large farms in the hinterlands of Brazil, devoted to the pioneer cultivation of the Jatropha.”
TAM has already ensured the availability of this aviation bio-fuel for the demonstration flight. Through the Brazilian Association of Jatropha Producers (ABPPM), the airline has acquired seeds from Jatropha producers in the North, Southeast and Center West of the country, arranged to transform them into semi-refined oil and exported this to the USA, where UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, processed the Jatropha oil into bio-kerosene and its mixture with conventional aviation kerosene, in a 50 percent ratio for each component.
This demonstration flight will be the very first experience of that genre in Latin America, with an innovative combination of this type of airplane and engine flying with aviation bio-kerosene produced from the Jatropha. The carrying of the demonstration flight will be aligned with the aeronautic authorities.
The Supply Chain and International Contracts Director at TAM, José Maluf, explains: “We are working with the valuable cooperation of CFM International and Airbus to hold this flight in which we will use an Airbus A320 in operation in our fleet in domestic and internationals lines in South America.”
TAM is surveying its participation in the development of the production chain for this vegetable biomass fuel to create a Brazilian sustainable bio-fuel platform. Known by the scientific name of “Jatropha Curcas L.”, this shrub is a plant that does not compete with the food chain, as it is not meant for human or animal consumption, and it can be intercropped with pastures and food crops.
Through a joint effort with ABPPM, TAM intends to study means to further develop the Jatropha sustainable production at commercial scale, with an eye on transforming it into aviation bio-fuel. The surveys carried out by ABPPM show that presently there are 60 thousand hectares of land in Brazil with Jatropha plantations. Considering the natural resources and the favorable climatic conditions, a large amount of degraded pastures might be recovered with this plant. To be able to attain a commercial scale, estimates show that it would be necessary to expand the cultivated surface by about one million hectares, sufficient to service approximately 20 percent of the domestic consumption.
“Airbus is exploring all types of alternative fuels because we believe there will be different solutions for different parts of the world. Any solution should be commercially viable and sustainable with no impact on people, land, food nor water, and should involve local jobs for local people. We call this the value chain, and this TAM initiative with Airbus is another step in this direction,” said Paul Nash, Airbus head of New Energies.
Well-to-wake Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) carried out by Michigan Technological University in conjunction with Honeywell’s UOP show that aviation biofuels made from Jatropha using the UOP Green Jet Fuel process can achieve a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions between 65 and 80 percent relative to petroleum-derived jet fuel.
The cultivation and harvest of the Jatropha, done in a responsible fashion, add social and economic value to local communities and do not compete with the production of food or potable water sources, complying with principles set forth by the SAFUG (Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group), a group joined by TAM formally on November 11, 2009. The SAFUG is made up of large international airlines whose aim is that of speeding up the development and marketing of new sustainable fuels for the aviation market.
Beyond the SAFUG requirements, through this project TAM will also follow concepts and criteria established by the RSB (Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels), a renowned international organization of acknowledged technical and scientific prestige, focused on the best production practices, the use and transportation of bio-fuels with regards to social, environmental and economic responsibilities in the transportation segment.
ALTA supports a global sectoral approach to deal with CO2 emissions, through ICAO, that recognizes the special needs of airlines based in developing countries and which takes into account the relative efficiencies and efforts made by the various airlines, such as Latin America’s fleet renewal program.
ALTA, along with regional airline associations from around the world, recently reaffirmed their commitment to the industry-wide effort to reduce aviation’s impact on climate change through three targets: a 1.5 percent improvement in fuel efficiency annually from 2010; a cap on net carbon emissions from 2020 through carbon-neutral growth; and a 50 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, compared with 2005 levels. These targets remain the most appropriate tools for addressing aviation’s carbon emissions while allowing sustainable growth, which recognizes the industry’s vital contribution to economic and social development around the world.
ALTA urges States to support ICAO as the most appropriate forum for addressing aviation emissions issues. It is essential that States agree to a global framework for aviation, to be implemented by ICAO.
ALTA and the industry have a plan for reducing emissions that is appropriate, ambitious and allows the industry to continue to grow responsibly while keeping climate change in check. The aviation sector has shown unprecedented support for a single, united vision to reduce emissions. ALTA is taking action to meet its targets. The world’s governments must now take up the challenge by moving forward with emissions-savings initiatives under their control, such as air traffic control modernization and in adopting a truly global approach to aviation and climate change through their representation at ICAO.
Source: Alta
