TAM Airlines Boosts its Aviation Biofuel Program
TAM Airlines has increased its viability study on a value chain of agricultural cultivation, industrial handling, and large-scale distribution of a new renewable and effective fuel option for aviation. It relates to a sustainable biokerosene production project, manufactured from several raw materials, among them the Jatropha curcas seeds.
TAM’s Technological Unit, located in the city of Sao Carlos (close to Sao Paulo, Brazil), currently has an area for the experimental cultivation of Jatropha curcas, where varieties of the plant are being tested for further uses in commercial cultivation. The oil from the seed, harvested in several regions of Brazil, and processed in to biokerosene, was the source of the fuel used in the successful experimental TAM flight in November 2010, at a 50% blend with conventional kerosene.
The study, developed by TAM and JETBIO, includes and involves partners such as Air BP, Airbus, Rio Pardo Bioenergia, potential refineries, engineering firms, and Yale University, which conducted a lifecycle analysis of several raw materials to compare emissions footprint and the impact of using the earth as a production chain for conventional kerosene.
“We have reached a new stage of the project. Our Jatropha curcas cultivation unit already conducts technical and economic viability studies to start the implementation of an integrated value chain in Brazil. With this cooperative work, we intend to accumulate technical, infrastructural, production-scale, and commercial-viability knowledge on biokerosene,” explains Paulus Figueiredo, TAM Airlines’ Energy Manager.
In order to be used partially and gradually in commercial flights, the energy alternative for aviation requires a guarantee of business development, from the agricultural production to the fuel distribution in the airports. For such, the companies decided to conduct economic viability and sustainability support studies for production. Bio Ventures Brazil, affiliated to JETBIO, works in Jatropha curcas commercial production development, sponsored by a fund supported by the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank). Other important sponsors of the project are Airbus and Air BP.
“The outcomes of the studies will help us to calculate the environmental, social, and economic impacts of widely using biokerosene from Jatropha curcas and other sources. In the end, the investment can be translated into another achievement for the aviation industry, with the minimization of carbon emissions and fulfillment of international targets in regard to the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable aviation fuel,” says Figueiredo.
IATA (International Air Transport Association) expects to see the substitution of 10% of the total fuel used by aviation companies worldwide, with renewable energy options by 2017.
The next stage of the Jatropha curcas biofuel project is the evaluation and screening for the best varieties of the plant, which will be the basis for the expansion of the cultivation areas. Besides the experimental cultivation plot in the city of Sao Carlos, Bio Ventures Brazil, together with Rio Pardo Bioenergia, has already developed plantations in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Should the productivity be satisfactory, it can be expanded by up to 30,000 hectares. Bio Ventures expects to start the commercial production of biokerosene in 2014.
