Airbus has teamed up with the European Commission, some European airlines and biofuel producers to develop a roadmap aimed at producing 2 million tonnes of aviation biofuel by 2020.

Biofuel Flightpath will set milestones towards producing biofuels in Europe produced from European feedstocks.

It aims to facilitate the development of standards for the certification of drop-in biofuels, and facilitate dedicated aviation biofuel production at a reasonable cost.

"This is a unique opportunity to create the first industrial venture ever introducing sustainable biofuels for commercially competitive operations," said European energy commissioner Gunter Oettinger.

Added Air France-KLM chief executive Pierre-Henri Gourgeon: "Deployment of sustainable biofuels will only be possible through a shared vision and common objectives from producers, end users and policy-makers. With this ambitious Biofuel Flightpath, Europe is giving the right signal for the emergence of a European supply chain."

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news