Qantas has announced it will operate the world’s first bio-fuel flight between the United States and Australia.
The Los Angeles to Melbourne flight will take place early next year, in collaboration with World Fuel Services and Altair Fuels, and will see Qantas’ new Dreamliner being powered by Brassica Carinata, a non-food, industrial type of mustard seed.
Carinata produces high quality oil, ideal for aviation biofuel, bio-jet for aircraft and bio-diesel for airport vehicles.
The news of the flight follows Qantas’s signing of a partnership with Agrisoma Biosciences, the company who developed the Carinata seed, with the two organisations also working together with Australian farmers to grow the country’s first commercial aviation biofuel seed crop by 2020.
“Our commercial operations in the USA, South American and Europe are certified as producing fuels with more than 80 per cent reduction in carbon emissions in comparison to standard petroleum based fuel,” Agrisoma Biosciences chief executive officer Steve Fabijanski says.
“Importantly for farmers, the crushed seed also produces a high-quality, high-protein, non-GMO meal for the Australian livestock, dairy and poultry market.”
“We are constantly looking for ways to reduce carbon emissions across our operations but when it comes to using renewable jet fuel, until now, there has not been a locally grown option at the scale we need to power our fleet,” Qantas International chief executive officer Alison Webster says.
“Our work with Agrisoma will enable Australian farmers to start growing today for the country’s biofuel needs of the future.”
