British Airways (BA) plans to produce jet fuel from waste matter by 2014 at a plant to be built in London. Up to 1,200 jobs would be created with the construction of the new plant in east London, due to begin over the next two years.
The facility, to be constructed by US company Solena Group, is set to produce 72 million liters of fuel a year from 500,000 tons of waste. The waste will be fed into a high temperature gasifier to produce BioSynGas. The Fischer Tropsch process is then applied to convert the gas into biofuel. The process could potentially reduce annual carbon emissions by 145,000 tons.
BA, according to a report from Deutsche Presse-Agentur, said the plant would produce twice the amount of airline fuel required to power flights from London’s City airport, but cover just 2% of all BA flights out of Heathrow, London’s biggest international airport. One of the main reasons behind the project is to cut the amount of waste sent to landfill sites, BA said. The company would still require certification for the new product, which would be used either in a blend with traditional kerosene or on its own.
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