THAI tests out biofuel flight
Thai Airways flew its first flight in the region yesterday under its biofuel pilot programme. The airline is ready to continue using biofuel for future commercial flights if PTT can supply the fuel at the same price as current jet fuel.
The company is set to be the first airline in Asia to fly a commercial passenger flight using biofuel to support its "Travel Green" initiative as part of its corporate social responsibility programme.
Thai president Piyasvasti Amranand said the company has developed an important project on sustainability to operate a commercial flight using biofuel renewable energy as one way to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions.
Piyasvasti said the airline’s decision to use biofuel on its commercial routes will depend on the ability of PTT to domestically produce biofuel at a cost on par with current jet fuel. Importing biofuel for jet engines, which it is doing for this pilot programme, will not be feasible in the long run.
He said the pilot programme’s first biofuel flight used a Boeing 777-200 aircraft and flew for 20 minutes.
The airline is also encouraging other carriers in the region to consider using biofuel to reduce their reliance on fossil fuel. The company intends to sustainably promote the production of biofuel for the aviation industry in Thailand and the region.
The plan will be developed in cooperation with other organisations such as oil production companies, research centres, educational institutions and related public and private sector.
To help encourage these organisations to become involved in sustainable biofuel development, the Thai government has indicated they will support this policy to help it succeed.
He said the European Union (EU) has announced that commercial flights that fly through EU countries must use jet fuel with a biomass of 10 per cent starting next year. The company will have to absorb the increased cost of using biofuels. If it does not, the penalties that the EU will charge for non-compliance will be greater than the increased cost of biofuels.
PTT vice president Saran Rangkarisi said that the price of biofuel – Bio Jet A-1 – is seven times greater than normal Jet A-1 fuel that Thai Airways is using now. Plus, it will take PTT 6-7 years to develop and be able to supply this kind of fuel to Thai Airways.
The biofuel that Thai Airways used for its first pilot flight was imported by PTT from Sky NRG of the Netherlands, which is the biggest producer of global biofuel and the supplier to KLM airlines and others such as Finnair. PTT imported eight tonnes of biofuel at a cost of Bt 2.5 million. Biofuel is a mixture of biojet and normal Jet A-1 in a 50-50 proportion. PTT verified the quality of the imported fuel and it met the international standards set by the American Society for Testing and Materials or ASTM D1655.
Ralph L Boyce, president of Boeing Southeast Asia, said that this pilot flight by Thai Airways marks the beginning of sustainable development of biofuel flights that is being taken seriously by aircraft manufacturers, fuel researchers, educational institutes and related state organisations in air transportation and alternative energy.
Biofuel flights are vital for the airline industry and Boeing is committed to allocating significant resources to work with researchers and leading industries to speed up introduction of sustainable biofuel flights, Boyce said.
