Thursday, Jun 11, 2015
Abu Dhabi
Etihad Airways and its partners on Thursday launched a roadmap for the sustainable production of aviation biofuels in the UAE.
The BIOjet Abu Dhabi: Flight Path to Sustainability report outlines various industry actions to develop a commercially viable domestic aviation biofuel industry - a first for the Middle East.
Boeing, Total, Takreer and the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology are the other partners that will be implementing the industry actions to produce biofuels meant for reducing carbon emissions from aviation industry.
A major project in the roadmap seeks to end the food versus biofuel debate. “The debate is either…or [either food or biofuel]. But this project will produce both food and biofuel,” an official said about the Integrated Seawater Energy and Agriculture System (ISEAS). The aquaculture experiment producing fish and shrimp using seawater will utilising their waste for growing native saline-resistant plants and mangroves, which can be potential feedstock for biofuels, said Dr Alejandro Rios G, Director of Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium at Masdar Institute said. The project will use ocean water and arid lands, which are abundant [untapped] resources in the world, he said. Of the world’s water resources, 97 per cent is ocean water and 20 per cent of total land is arid land, he said.
Darrin Morgan Diector of Sustainabkle Fuels at Boeing that is involved many biofuel projects across the world, said this project has no parallels in the world hence this technology can be exported to other parts of the world.
This idea could potentially add an additional 130 million hectares to current global croplands.
The roadmap further explores the potential of converting organic waste and forest resources into feedstock for biofuels. In biorefinery development, Takreer, the refining arm of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, will play a major role, the roadmap says.
By Binsal Abdul Kader Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2015. All rights reserved.
