Domestic biofuel licensed for flights
Print Edition
China has licensed the commercial use of a domestic aviation biofuel made with palm oil and recycled cooking oil, becoming the fourth country after the United States, France and Finland to do so.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China granted the license, the first of its kind, to Sinopec, China’s largest oil refiner, allowing the company’s No. 1 Aviation Biofuel to be used by airlines.
Xu Chaoqun, deputy head of the administration’s Flight Criteria Department, hailed the development as a significant breakthrough for the country’s research, production and application of aviation biofuel.
The biofuel underwent several rounds of tests before it was given the green light, Xu said.
The administration received Sinopec’s application for commercial use of the biofuel in early 2012, and a test flight was successful in Shanghai last April, Xinhua news agency reported.
“China is now among the very few nations to have full capacity to mass-produce biofuel in an effort to contribute to carbon emission cuts in the world’s aviation industry,” Xu said at a ceremony in Beijing.
Also present were officials with the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency.
Xu said Sinopec will work to diversify biofuel sources, lower production costs and push forward the fuel’s commercial applications.
Biofuel generates a reduction of around 40 percent in carbon emissions.
Last year, a Chinese Eastern Airbus 320 completed a 125-minute test flight from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport using some 1.7 tons of biofuel.
The biofuel produced sufficient power during the test flight and “was no different from traditional fuel,” said pilot Liu Zhimin.
The carrier said yesterday it would be using the biofuel on its commercial routes but gave no details of when it would start.
The airline’s busiest route is Shanghai to Beijing.
With an annual consumption of nearly 20 million tons, China has become a large consumer of aviation fuel, and the development of biofuel will help ease pressure on resources and cut pollution.
The International Air Transport Association forecasts that 30 percent of aviation fuel will be biofuel by 2020.
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