Recent News

Farm to Fly partners release a report on aviation biofuels progress
    On January 18, 2012, in a blogpost the USDA, jointly with Airlines for America (A4A) and Boeing, released a report, "Agriculture and Aviation: Partners in Prosperity", detailing recent progress in aviation biofuels development. A4A and Boeing have also posted policy recommendations from industry as a companion to the report.

Lufthansa to conduct first transatlantic commercial biofuel flight to U.S.
    1/10/2012--Yesterday, Lufthansa announced that it will conclude its successful long-term biofuel study by operating the world’s first biofuel-powered transatlantic commercial flight to the United States. On Thursday, January 12, 2012, Lufthansa will fly a Boeing 747-400 carrying approximately 40 tons of biofuel mix from Frankfurt to Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. Flight LH418 will depart from Frankfurt at 1:05pm and is scheduled to arrive in DC at 3:50pm. On this flight alone, Lufthansa expects to reduce CO2 emissions by 38 tons. See the press release.

This flight represents another example of commercial use of sustainable alternative jet fuel that is being made possible by the collaborative efforts of industry, government and CAAFI.

CAAFI Leaders named in the Top 100 people in Bioenergy
    Biofuels Digest published "The Top 100 People in Bioenergy: The List" last week and CAAFI's Executive Director Rich Altman, CAAFI Environment Team Co-chair Nancy Young (A4A) and the CAAFI Business Team's John Heimlich (A4A) were all listed in the top 50! Many of our friends at USDA, DOE and in industry were also on the list -- including USDA Secretary Vilsack who topped the list for the second year in a row and Billy Glover (Boeing). The winners were elected by the readership of Biofuels Digest and highlight the importance of aviation in the advanced biofules world. See in depth profiles of winners here.

FAA Announces $7.7M to advance cleaner, more sustainable jet fuel
    CAAFI just convened its General Meeting November 30 - 1 Dec, during which government and industry stakeholders discussed progress, goals, strategies and opportunities in developing and deploying alternative jet fuels. Randy Babbitt, FAA Administrator, thanked CAAFI stakeholders for their efforts in gaining ASTM International approval of a jet biofuel blend in July and challenged them to continue efforts to approve additional jet biofuels. During his remarks, Mr. Babbitt also announced eight contract awards totalling $7.7M by the FAA, through DOT's Volpe Center, to continue developing advanced jet biofuels.
See the FAA press release and an analysis of the significance of the awards by BiofuelsDigest.

Navy and Agriculture Announce purchase of 450K gallons of renewable jet and diesel
    December 5--Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the largest ever government purchase of biofuel today. The purchase of 450,000 gallons of biofuel -- a third of it jet fuel --made from a blend of non-food waste (used cooking oil) from the Louisiana-based Dynamic Fuels, LLC, and algae, produced by Solazyme. The fuel will be used in the U.S. Navy's demonstration of a Green Strike Group in the summer of 2012 during the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), the world's largest international maritime exercise. The purchase is in line with President Obama’s Energy Security Goals stated back in March 2011 to advance use of advanced biofuels for military and commercial use and continues government efforts to stimulate this new industry.
- - - - - - - - - - -
© 2012 Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative
Contact Us