Jan 12 2011
Qantas Airways, is in consultations to build a biofuel plant in Australia to supplement its biofuel requirements. The airline is expected to declare its construction plans in association with Solena, an American company.
The other airlines that had participated in the consultations include Ryanair and Aer Lingus, the two Irish airline companies and easyJet, a no-frill airline company from the UK.
The airlines are studying various biofuel options very much ahead of the anticipated regulations for cutting down the fossil fuel emissions stipulated by the European Union. The airlines that do not comply with the stipulations will be subjected to heavy fines. In 2010, British Airways, the One world partner of Qantas Airways, has announced the building of a biofuel plant near east of London to convert 500,000 tons of waste every year to produce 16 million gallons of clean greener fuel for the jet planes. The fuel will be produced from outsourced wastes such as food scraps, grass, tree cuttings and household materials. The proposed plant in Australia by Qantas is anticipated to generate biofuel by utilizing the same method.
Solena, the Washington DC-based company, utilizes plasma expertise to translate all biomass products into renewable energy. The company incorporates Fischer Tropsch process in the technology to generate the synthetic liquid fuel. Originally the technology was utilized during the Second World War by Nazi Germany to overcome fuel shortage.
Source: http://www.qantas.com.au/