Airlines keen to grow their own fuel

Airlines see biofuels as a potential cost saver over conventional hydrocarbons, according to a United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) report. The writers of the “The State of the Biofuels Market” say “airlines are now looking not only for cheaper alternatives but also pursuing options to decarbonise air transport”. These changes are being motivated by the consequences of climate change, the globalisation of markets and services, the rising demand for energy in the face of potential resources decline, and the drastically rising volumes of freight traffic. These have induced an increase in cost of aviation turbine fuel and emergence of stricter climate efficiency laws. Currently the aviation industry’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions amounts to “only 1.5%, which is far less than the impact of other forms of transport,” says the report.