BIOMASS HUB

The U.S. and China launched a research venture this week to develop biofuels for Chinese airlines. A look at the announced projects and market dynamics driving investments in aviation biofuels in China.

It is difficult to quantify the impact of the U.S.-China initiative announced this week.

To put it in context: aviation growth in the Asia-Pacific region is set to explode over the next two decades, with nearly 9,000 new aircraft being added by 2028 according to a Boeing market outlook (see Aviation Boom in Asia Intensifies Global Competition for Fuel). As Biomass Intel reported earlier this year:

Speaking in Singapore earlier this year, IATA director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani reports that Asia-Pacific region has overtaken the US to become the world’s largest aviation market.

According to AirCargo World, during the last decade, China replaced Japan as Asia-Pacific’s largest player. Today the country has an airline fleet of 1,400 aircraft compared to Japan’s 540.

China is on track to become the world’s largest aviation market in coming decades and Beijing is aggressively promoting aviation biofuels to clean up its environment and curb growing reliance on imported oil and gas.

While rising demand in China for transport is well understood, the effect this demand will have on the aviation sector has only recently come into focus as oil price volatility and supply uncertainty continue to eat into the commercial aviation’s bottom line (see Aviation Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place). Meanwhile, the aviation sector is seeing increasing regulation around carbon emissions, principally from EU’s ETS, but also from other (potentially) international regimes coalescing in the wake of Kyoto.

In light of these developments, the U.S. and China launched a research venture Wednesday to develop biofuels for use by Chinese airlines based on algae or oily nuts and said an inaugural flight could come as early as this year. The announcement of a series of research partnerships follows a pledge this week by the governments at a high-level meeting to cooperate closely in renewable energy, which both said was essential to fight climate change and could spur new industries.

Boeing China President David Wang notes:

Boeing is actively pursuing biofuel research around the world. Sustainable biofuels can help reduce carbon emissions while offering the potential to lessen aviation’s dependence on fossil fuels. Through these agreements China, its aviation sector and its leadership are demonstrating tremendous drive in the quest to develop a clean, sustainable aviation fuel supply.

The two sides signed a series of research partnerships between Boeing Co., U.S. government agencies, and Chinese research institutions and state companies including Air China Ltd. and PetroChina Ltd. The goal of the research is to produce a fuel that can be used in commercial airliners with no modifications to standard engines — most likely a mix of biofuel and standard jet fuel.

Chinese companies have yet to decide which plants to use as a fuel source, but researchers are looking at algae and jatropha, a tree grown in south China that produces an oily nut.

Below is a summary of the various announced projects:

• Assessment. Look at all phases of sustainable aviation biofuel development including agronomy, energy inputs and outputs, lifecycle emissions analysis, infrastructure and government policy support. The assessment, slated to begin in June, supports a broader sustainable aviation biofuel agreement between China’s National Energy Administration and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency to promote the commercialization and use of aviation biofuels in China through the U.S.-China Energy Cooperation Program (ECP), a public-private partnership. Other U.S. companies participating include AECOM, Honeywell’s UOP and United Technologies. Air China and PetroChina Company, Ltd. will lead the Chinese team.
• Algae research. Boeing Research & Technology and the Chinese Academy of Science’s Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT) agreed to expand their collaboration to include other research institutions and aviation supply chain entities as part of their efforts on algae-based aviation biofuel development. Boeing and QIBEBT previously announced the establishment of a joint research and development laboratory focused on algal growth, harvesting and processing technologies. The Joint Laboratory for Sustainable Aviation Biofuels will be located in Qingdao and managed by Boeing Research & Technology-China and QIBEBT, which will work together to place a strong emphasis on commercial applications for developed technologies.
• Test flight. Air China, PetroChina, Boeing and Honeywell’s UOP agreed to conduct an inaugural flight using sustainable biofuel derived from biomass grown and processed in China. PetroChina will provide the biomass, which will be processed into jet fuel by UOP. The biofuel flight, which will occur in China, will highlight the viability of the entire supply chain – from seed to flight.

The first flight in China using biofuels could happen this year, and the fuel could be in use in commercial aviation in three to five years, said Al Bryant, Boeing’s vice president for research and technology in China. He said four test flights using biofuels have been flown successfully in the United States:

Today we’ve proven it can be flown. It’s a matter of scaling it up so it can be commercialized.

As to why the initiative was taking place in China rather than the United States, Bryant said:

[T]hey’ve made the decision to move faster.

Image: Flickr/Irish Typepad