A new group created to promote the development and certification of sustainable biofuels for aviation use will have among its founding members the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA). Announced on Monday (May 10), the Brazilian Alliance for Aviation Biofuels (ABRABA) was created by nine Brazilian companies and organizations linked to aviation, to accelerate the search for renewable options to replace, with equal or greater efficiency, petroleum-based fuels.
“No doubt the creation of ABRABE is a major step in establishing conditions for a breakthrough in research and development for low-carbon aviation fuels. UNICA is committed to this goal and supports the initiative,” said Alfred Szwarc, UNICA’s Emissions and Technology Consultant.
Initially, these are the member companies in the new alliance: Algae Biotechnology, Amyris Brazil, the Brazilian Association of Jatropha Producers (ABPPM), Aerospace Industries Association of Brazil (AIAB), Azul Airlines, Embraer, GOL Airlines, TAM Airlines, TRIP Airlines and UNICA.
Embraer, a leading manufacturer of regional jets and one of the driving forces behind ABRABE, believes joining forces will have vital importance. “The commitment of ABRABE to the development of a sustainable aviation fuel places Brazilian aviation in a unique position to achieve that goal more quickly and efficiently,” says Embraer’s Director of Strategies and Technologies for the Environment, William de Almeida Freire.
Alternatives
ABRABE shares the global concern with climate change, which has led to a growing demand for renewable energy sources. The new alliance sees increases in greenhouse gas emissions, combined with uncertainties about the availability of fossil fuels, reinforcing the need to seek new alternatives.
Within this context, civil aviation is seen as having a key role. ABRABE members have been spearheading various activities and projects to contribute to the development of alternatives that achieve the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, with greater safety and efficiency. The use of sustainable biofuels produced from biomass is seen as essential by the new alliance, to maintain growth in the aviation industry in an increasingly low-carbon economy.
“It will be a qualitative leap to achieve an aviation biofuel that is sustainable and produced on an industrial scale mainly in Brazil, at a time of acute transformation in civil aviation worldwide. Changes involving costs and sustainability are part of the agenda as never before,” Szwarc concludes.
Source
Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA), press release, 2010-05-10.
Supplier
Aerospace Industries Association of Brazil (AIAB)
Algae Biotechnology
Azul Airlines
Brazilian Association of Jatropha Producers (ABPPM)
Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA)
Embraer
GOL Airlines
TAM Linhas Aéreas S.A.
TRIP Airlines
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