The Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group (SAFUG), which includes Air New Zealand, Virgin Blue and Qantas, together with Boeing and the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), has commissioned a study aiming to accelerate the development and commercialisation of sustainable aviation fuel in the region.
The ‘Roadmap’ study will start on March 23 and be carried out by the CSIRO. It will build on international developments in biofuels research, with particular application to Australia and New Zealand, looking specifically at addressing the barriers around scaling up and commercialising biofuel technologies.
The study comes after a number of biofuel test flights during 2009, as well as recent advances in the synthesis of a number of different materials into aviation jet fuel. Nevertheless, many interested parties believe that commercially sustainable biofuels are still a number of years off.
