According to a presentation at World Biofuel Markets in Rotterdam in 2011, Lufthansa had a total kerosene consumption of 11.2 million m2 (94 million US barrels) valued at €5.2 billion in 2010, which translates in 1000 road tanker trucks per day! If Lufthansa would use 10% biokerosene, Lufthansa would have a biofuel demand of around only 1.1 million tonnes a year. One tonne of kerosene Jet A-1 fuel at Lufthansa equals an emission of 3.15 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Air traffic and carbon dioxide emissions will go up sharply in the coming 40 years. According to the global consulting firm Booz & Company (www. booz. com), today’s carbon dioxide emissions from airlines of 0.4 billion tonnes might rise to 2.0 billion tonnes by 2050. Next to more aerodynamically designed airplanes, using less fuel, more efficient engines, and better equipped airports, the biggest reduction of 1.4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide must come from clean biokerosene.

Lufthansa wants to become the world’s first airline using biokerosene on a regular basis, which is an admirable and courageous initiative. Instead of one single demonstration show flight, Lufthansa took the decision to make over 1000 short flights with biokerosene and test the results extensively. Initially, daily flights from April 2011 onwards using a biofuel blended jet fuel were scheduled, but Lufthansa had to postpone the launch because for a second time the testing body, the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), delayed its approval to use biokerosene in commercial traffic and its delay aggravated the airlines con­siderably. On 10 June 2011, ASTM gave its preliminary approval to use biofuels like algae and Jatropha as biokerosene, and Lufthansa started flying with biofuel.

Starting in the summer of 2011, Lufthansa flew 8 times a day over a period of 6 months between Frankfurt and Hamburg using an Airbus A321 with one engine running on a 50/50 blend of ordinary kerosene and Jatropha biokerosene. Other fuels like biokerosene derived from tallow were used as well. Tallow is an animal fat derived from beef, mutton, or pigs that conforms to certain technical criteria. The big advantage of using tallow is the avoidance of the “food-or-fuel” debate.

The fuel came from sustainable feedstock sources in Indonesia and was refined into kerosene under a long-term agreement with Finland-based Neste Oil. Indeed, Lufthansa is the world’s first airline to utilize biofuel inflight operations. Lufthansa made 1187 flights, consumed 1556.9 tonnes of biokerosene, and reached a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 1471 tonnes. You can see and read more about Lufthansa’s biofuel flying at www. puresky. de, and see more about LH Biofuel in practical tests and be on board the 747-8F’s record-breaking biofuel flights on clips on YouTube.

Lufthansa needs around 530 000 tonnes of biofuel a year to meet its Interna­tional Air Transport Association (IATA) goals for 2020 and will start flying with biokerosene again only when it can secure supplies of these sustainable green fuels.

Neste Oil is a refining and marketing company concentrating on low-emission, high-quality traffic fuels, and claims to be the world’s leading supplier ofrenewable

diesel (www. nesteoil. com). The company’s proprietary NExBTL hydrogenization technology produces jet fuel from renewable raw materials such as vegetable oil and animal fat. The fuel will only be produced from sustainable feedstock sources to ensure they do not compete for food, water, or land. Neste Oil says the greenhouse gas emissions of NExBTL renewable jet fuel, as calculated over the fuel’s entire lifecycle, are 40-80% lower than those of fossil-based jet fuel. The company is a member of the RSB.

An airline like Lufthansa is faced will a carbon credit bill of around $250-350 million annually, when the load factor, routes, and carbon price remain stable. Mid-2012 carbon prices are very low, with European Unit Allowances (EUAs) trading around €7. However, during the tsunami and nuclear reactor meltdown in Japan in March 2011, the price of carbon permit prices (per tonne) on the ICE Futures Market Europe shot up 12% in 3 days. Such an event increases the carbon credit bill for a big airline by around $28-30 million.

I think for a big airline it is advisable to hedge its carbon credit exposure and invest in the complete value chain starting with biofuel projects that lower carbon dioxide emis­sions, secure feedstock supply in long-term off-take agreements, and deliver a positive return on investment as well. Biofuels lower carbon credit emissions and therefore offset carbon credit costs.

In general, carbon credits are not directly reinvested in the green development of airline biofuels. Therefore, the price of passenger tickets will increase by €10-30 for continental flights in Europe. I expect the price of carbon per tonne to rise over time above €20. Such a development will increase the airline’s ticket prices sub­stantially more and reduce its competitiveness.

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