Airbus and British Airways Join Hands with Cranfield University
The Sustainable Use of Renewable Fuels (SURF) consortium which consists of Airbus, BA, Cranfield University, Rolls-Royce, Finnair, London’s Gatwick Airport and IATA recently nnounced that several companies including Airbus and British Airways have teamed up with the UK’s Cranfield University to push forward the use of algae as an alternative fuel for the aviation industry.
SURF is based around a pilot project at Cranfield called Sea Green, under which algae is being grown and processed for potential use as a biofuel. The plan is for Sea Green to eventually become an ocean-based facility which will produce commercial quantities of biomass to be converted into biofuel.
SURF envisions that Sea Green will be able to produce the first commercial quantities of biofuel from algae within three years.
“Algae grows naturally in sea water and with over 70% of the surface of the earth being water, Cranfield’s Sea Green project is a logical and potentially high yield solution,” says Feargal Brennan, head of Cranfield University’s Department of Offshore, Process and Energy Engineering.
Airbus head of new energies Paul Nash adds: “We see algae as one of the most promising and sustainable solutions for commercial quantities of biofuels.”
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