First S American commercial flight with biofuelFriday 13 Apr 2012 LAN Airlines passed a milestone by flying the first-ever South American commercial flight using biofuel, as part of a project started with fuel and forestry conglomerate Copec SA. The global airline industry is committed to address environmental concerns by reducing its carbon emissions 50% by 2050, compared with 2005, and increasing the use of renewable fuels to 1% in 2015 and 5% in 2020, according to data provided by LAN.An Airbus 320 flew almost 170 people, including LAN and Copec executives, industry and government authorities and reporters, between Santiago and the southern city of Concepcion, in a nearly one-hour flight that appeared no different than one using conventional jet fuel. LAN Chief Operations Officer Ignacio Cueto said the flight was "a dream come true" and called on the energy industry to develop renewable fuels. Cueto said that there are no timeframes to start a commercial operation using biofuels, as its costs are not yet competitive. He emphasized however that in the future, LAN is willing to use biofuels in all its flights and although this project was developed along with Copec, the company is open to work with any supplier that offers competitive costs, similar to current fuels used. LAN's direct investment to expand the use of biofuels shouldn't be high. Its new aircraft that are expected go into operation next year are biofuel-ready, Cueto said. The adjustments to the current fleet in order to use biofuel aren't major, a LAN operations executive said during the flight. Source: Dow Jones |
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