Boeing, Embraer to open joint research center for sustainable aviation biofuel in Brazil
12 May 2014
Boeing and Embraer S.A. will open a joint research center to advance a sustainable aviation biofuel industry in Brazil. Under a memorandum of understanding, the two companies will perform joint biofuel research, as well as fund and coordinate research with Brazilian universities and other institutions.
The research will focus on technologies that address gaps in a supply chain for sustainable aviation biofuel in Brazil, such as feedstock production and processing technologies. The companies’ biofuel research center will be located in Sao Jose dos Campos Technology Park.
In 2013, Boeing, Embraer and the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa of the State of São Paulo (FAPESP) completed an action plan—Flightpath to Aviation Biofuels in Brazil—that identified gaps in a potential biofuel supply chain. The joint research between Boeing and Embraer will help address those gaps.
When produced sustainably, aviation biofuel emits 50 to 80% lower carbon emissions through its lifecycle than petroleum jet fuel. Globally, more than 1,500 passenger flights using biofuel have been conducted since the fuel was approved for use in 2011.
There is no sustainable method of biofuel production for all of the aircraft in the world. The land area of all developed countries is not sufficient to produce their liquid fuel needs even if no area is used for food. These companies should be able to do the arithmetic about the crop area of the developed countries and their current production and max possible production to know that no country or even the world can produce its energy use from forests or fields. The word sustainable must be questioned if used in regards to agriculture produced energy which became unsustainable before the industrial revolution. ..HG..
Posted by: Henry Gibson | 13 May 2014 at 08:54 PM