Busy day here so forgive the briefness of this blog, but here's the initial story I just wrote on South African energy company Sasol flying a Boeing 737 entirely on synthetic fuel derived from coal for the first time.
It's not going to save the world as it's still reliant on burning fossil fuels, but this type of fuel does result in lower nitrogen and sulphur emissions.
Not long after announcing its involvement with US bioenergy firm Solena on a project to build a plant in East London that will turn household waste into biofuel, British Airways has unveiled its participation in an algae-based jet fuel consortium called SURF.
The SURF (Sustainable Use of Renewable Fuels) consortium centres around an initiative at Cranfield University, which aims to produce commercial quantities of biofuel from algae within three years.
There is a growing sense of optimism about the use of biofuels as a replacement for kerosene, which I reported on from Farnborough here. But there are also a number of financial and legislative hurdles to overcome, as outlined by Jim Woodger of Honeywell's renewable energy and chemicals division at the recent Aviation and Environment Summit in Geneva.
Breaking down the various biomass sources and giving an estimated timeframe for the availability of each one, Woodger said camelina is ready now, jatropha and halophytes will be ready in 2-4 years and algae will be ready in 5-8 years.
I'm interested in finding out more about halophytes, following a piece I wrote a few years ago about a NASA scientist's belief that within five years commercial aircraft could be powered using fuel derived from saltwater plants grown in the desert and irrigated with seawater.
Any feedback on the feasibility of this wacky-sounding idea would be gratefully received! I'd love to know how research is going.
We'll be continuing to track developments in the biofuels arena here at Flightglobal, and I'm constantly on the lookout for tips/info on exciting stuff that's going on in this area.
Also, look out for Flight International's next Environmental Special Report on 23 November, where we'll be taking an in-depth look at Hydrotreated Renewable Jet fuel (HRJ).
If you stay at a hotel in Geneva, they give you a card that allows you unlimited use of public transport in the city for the duration of your stay.
This includes the train to the airport, which takes only six minutes - much faster and more pleasant than the Euro35 cab fare.
How civilised is that?
This morning's panel discussion at the Aviation & Environment Summit in Geneva focused on the need for a global framework on emissions reductions for aviation, and I can't help wondering if the industry is putting too many eggs in one basket with the continuing hope that ICAO will manage to cobble together this elusive framework.
We heard from deputy assistant secretary of state for transportation affairs at the US Department of State, John Byerly, that "failure is not an option" and it will be "absolute chaos" if ICAO doesn't come up with the goods at its assembly in 11 days' time.
And IATA's Giovanni Bisignani was his usual fiery self, stressing that in order to avoid a repeat of the "enormous mess" that was the UNFCCC's COP15 summit in Copenhagen, ICAO must put together a framework later this month.
ICAO has quite a task on its hands - I'm looking forward to seeing if it can live up to these high expectations, or if we'll be hearing the same repeated cries for a global framework in the run up to COP17. And 18. And 19...
Integration, co-operation, collaboration and any other joining together word you can think of ending in "ation" (alright, maybe not copulation) have been the key words at this year's Aviation & Environment Summit in Geneva.
If IATA's goal of achieving carbon neutral growth in the airline industry from 2020 is to stand any chance of becoming a reality, there will need to be huge co-operation between all the stakeholders and governments around the world. And that's no mean feat.
All eyes will be on the 37th Session of the ICAO Assembly in Montreal later this month and the UNFCCC climate change summit in Cancun in November/December to see if any kind of global framework for reducing emissions from aviation can be agreed upon. Here's hoping!
That elusive global framework will be under discussion during the conference today so I'll give you an update of what was said later on...
IATA set quite a target when it trumpeted its goal for the aviation industry to achieve carbon neutral growth in 2020 and to halve its emissions by 50% over 2005 levels by 2050.
Here at the Aviation and the Environment Summit in Geneva, these goals have once again been stressed and we've heard a lot of exciting stuff about promising technologies and biofuels that could help this to become a reality.
But Air Transport Action Group chief Paul Steele today admitted that carbon offsets might be needed to enable IATA to meet its carbon neutral growth targets.
Legislators are keen to see results before 2020. As Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) quite bluntly put it today: "Time is not on our side. We need to see significant emission reductions before 2020."
The aviation industry aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1.5% per annum between now and 2020.
As usual, the old adage of a global solution being needed for a global problem is being repeated. But consensus still seems to be sadly lacking. Maybe the upcoming 37th ICAO Assembly and the UNFCCC climate change summit in Cancun will surprise us and come up with some kind of global framework.
Welcome to Flightglobal's latest blog, where I'll be closely monitoring the impact of aviation on the environment and following the steps the industry is taking (and isn't taking!) to reduce its carbon footprint.
From biofuels to biomimicry, from emissions trading to aircraft recycling, and from greener engine designs to futuristic, environmentally-friendly aircraft designs, I'll be covering it all and then some.
I'm travelling to Geneva later today to attend the Aviation and the Environment Summit 2010(yes I'm flying there and yes this will result in carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere, the irony is not lost on me).
I'll be blogging and tweeting from the event to report on what's being discussed, so be sure to keep an eye out for updates.
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