British Airways Company’ Biofuels Adoption

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Table of Contents

Abstract
Aims, Objectives and Rationale
Brief Literature Review
Methodology
Findings, Analysis and Discussion
Conclusion and Recommendations
Reference List

Abstract

The aim of this research is to explore the adoption of biofuels at the British Airways. It is has been noted the aviation industry contributes to more than two percent of human-emitted carbon dioxide emissions. The rapid growth in the industry driven by increasing demands by travellers has done nothing significant to ensure the decline in the rates of emissions, but the aviation industry is nonetheless focused on reducing their rates of emissions and impacts on the environment through new ways of fuelling planes. One major approach that has gained recognition is the use of biofuels. The case study of British Airways shows that the aviation industry can work with other stakeholders to develop biofuels without necessarily destroying forests and creating food scarcity and still contribute to environmental conservation.

Aims, Objectives and Rationale

The aim of this research is to explore the sustainability of biofuels in the aviation industry by focusing on British Airways.

It is imperative to explore the sustainability of the biofuels in the aviation industry and justify why the industry must continuously improve its processes to reduce the rate of carbon emissions and ensure sustainable production processes, follow production criteria in the supply and realise cost-savings from the alternative fuel.

Brief Literature Review

Dolan (2010) has observed that the aviation industry is responsible for at least two percent of the current carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere through human activities. It is expected the growth in the industry is most likely to increase this rate. The airline industry has recognised this challenge and is therefore working on various alternatives to reduce the rate of carbon dioxide emission. One prominent approach favoured by the industry is the use of alternative fuels, common referred to as biofuels.

It is believed that the use of biofuels in the industry reflects a strong environmental commitment. Today, for instance, many airline companies have entered into several agreements to manufacture or purchase biofuels for airplanes and other ground engines. Various airline firms may use various sources of biofuels based on technologies and materials used. Generally, biofuels are considered as alternative fuels obtained from living materials, specifically algae and plants.

In some cases, biofuels are obtained from recycled cooking oil. Plants such as algae, castor, camellia and jatropha have abilities to grow in poor land conditions as opposed to other alternative plants such as corn or soybeans that need soil rich in nutrients, and they have been identified as important sources of biofuels (Dolan 2011). These plants for alternative fuels are also easy to grow.

Algae can be effectively used to management atmospheric carbon as an alternative source of energy. Carbon dioxide emitted from other sources may be captured and used to grow algae as fertilizer. The approach is a test for some airline firms and companies, especially those focused on using advanced fermentation processes to obtain biofuels. Hence, there is interest in any potential living organism that can generate biofuels for the industry.

According to Lane (2012), many airline firms across the globe have focused on biofuels. At least any global carriers with a focus on environmental conservation, resources and require alternative cheap energies have turned to biofuels. Smith has reported that the British Airways believes that by the year 2050, the aviation industry will operate on biofuels.

The aviation industry is focused on adopting biofuels because of their economic benefits and environmental protection (Saddler & Kumar, 2013). Consequently, many modern airline firms have concentrated on developing domestic sustainable energy policy, specifically to curtain the dependence on foreign oil supplies (US Department of Energy, 2012).

The aviation industry has focused on reducing emissions by at least 30 percent by the year 2025. This could be possible to achieve because various stakeholders, including university researchers, industrial firms and different government agencies have worked to ensure that some jets operate on biofuels today.

Biofuels, however, pose challenges to the industry. There is a significant technical challenge because extremely energy-dense fuels are required while some planes have limited volume and carrying capacities for such fuels. Fuels with low energy contents will also lower the distance covered. Hence, continuous upgrade of the manufactured jet biofuels is necessary to ensure that they can run the industry.

A critical argument is that a large tract of land is now cleared to provide land for growing crops for biofuels. In addition, some critics have argued that only additional plants would result in the reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Thus, clearing forests that already absorb the carbon dioxide for biofuel crops would not make much difference. In addition, the possible use of food crops for alternative fuels has also raised sustainability of the biofuels in the aviation industry.

In addition, many aviation firms must redesign their engines and capacity to accommodate such alternative fuels (Smith 2012). This presents huge cost burden to airplane firms. More challenges are most likely to be experienced as the aviation industry further focuses on other alternative sources of fuels like hydrogen and solar (Smith 2012).

One may wonder how the industry will manage conflict interests and direct competition with food crops for human consumption and animal production. Lufthansa, for instance, claims that it relies on sustainable supply and manufacturing process for its biofuels and there is no direct competition for food crops. In addition, no rainforests are cleared to its biofuels. Therefore, the firm must insist on sustainable production processes and meet criteria for biofuels productions.

Some analysts believe that the issue of food vs. fuel is only temporary because of the use of corn to produce biofuels. Hence, it is most likely to change as alternative sources of biofuels are discovered.

Biofuel is a good investment for the aviation industry (Dolan 2011). One major challenge in the aviation industry is the volatility of the fuel prices. In fact, jet fuel is usually the largest cost for many commercial planes. On this note, some critics argue that the use of biofuels will assist in stabilising fuel supplies and prices, and therefore could be the best solution to stabilise volatile crude oil prices to some extent.

It is, however, imperative to recognise that biofuel technology is new and growing, and thus, the initial costs are likely to be high. This raises the concern whether the industry will pass such additional costs to travellers. Cost may not be an important fact given that biofuels have high energy density relative to all other fuels currently found in the market. Therefore, it can enhance fuel efficiency in the industry.

Methodology

A case study methodology was adopted for this study. Past publications on the use biofuels in the aviation were reviewed for critical insights, and therefore, the study was secondary research. Specifically, the study focused on qualitative data to gain insights on how British Airways has adopted biofuels. For this study, the major sources of materials were mainly journal articles in the printed media, which were considered current and credible. Only articles from reputable authors were considered.

Findings, Analysis and Discussion

The study findings show that the aviation industry is determined on reducing the rate of carbon emission into the atmosphere. Consequently, the industry, academics and interested bodies have explored several sources of alternative fuels and identified biofuels (Bomani, Bulzan, Centeno-Gomez, & Hendricks, 2009).

The British Airways is leading the industry by focusing on waste materials rather than food crops to generate alternative fuels its fleet. The company is constructing a self-contained plant to change a half million tonnes of waste materials into 16 million gallons of alternative biofuel (British Airways, 2010). British Airways stresses that the generated green jet biofuel would be more that the volume required for operating its planes and making them carbon-neutral.

The British Airways has developed two strategies for its biofuels agenda. First, the company works with Solena to establish a plant in the UK, change most materials destined for landfill into aviation fuel. Partnership is, therefore, necessary for any airline firm that wishes to adopt alternative biofuels. Second, the company also works with Rolls Royce to develop new, innovative fuels generated from various sources, including algae through new technologies.

The British Airways strives to avoid food crops and fuels obtained from such crops because of their sustainability and issues surrounding their use. Algae and waste materials, therefore, offer the best alternative for the company to lead change in the industry (Gordon, 2014).

The British Airways developed an ambitious goal of achieving 50 percent carbon emission reduction by the year 2050. These efforts may help the company to realise its long-term goal on fuel efficiency and carbon emission reduction. It a real alternative to currently available jet fuels. The company believes that it will focus on real sustainability advantages and create the required technological capacities for such initiatives. Besides, British Airways emphasises that it would continue focusing on the ‘next big thing’ to create real sustainability. The company has expressed that it lacks confidence in biofuels generated from crops, and this notion explains its focus on alternative sources of biofuels rather than crops.

The British Airways shows a paradigm shift in the use of biofuels to drive the aviation industry. Previously, biofuels were touted as the best alternative to decarbonising the aviation and transport industries. Today, however, these alternative fuels are utilised with more caution. Many critics have noted the issue of sustainability of this green source of fuel with regard to food crop security and deforestation (Dolan, 2011).

On this note, British Airways realised that the approach was not sustainable because the future biofuels will have to be sustainable, renewable, as well as technically and economically sustainable (Virkajärvi, Niemelä, Hasanen, & Teir, 2009). Therefore, different stakeholders should work together to make sound investments in the biofuel research to ensure that they can develop such alternative fuels and address environmental and social impacts. Biofuels can only thrive when favourable approaches are adopted. Otherwise, the alternative source of aviation fuel could have negative impacts on other related sectors affected through its production.

The British Airways believes that by the year 2017, it will be able to fuel its fleet destined to the US through trash (Stecker, Pyper, & ClimateWire, 2014).

As all stakeholders work together, they can solve some notable challenges. For instance, Kilaz et al. (2014) noted that there was possible cross contamination of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) in biodiesel with jet fuels (p. 103), which a critical source of concern for the industry and manufacturers. They believed that the same supply chain resulted in contaminated biofuels and subsequent malfunction of the engine. These researchers, however, established that the concentration less than two percent did not pose any risk for malfunction. As a result, they recommended the aviation industry should review its current limit of 30 ppm (Kilaz et al. 2014).

Conclusion and Recommendations

The aviation industry has focused on reducing its impacts on the environment and using alternative, sustainable biofuels. Practices at the British Airways show best practices that other firms can adopt to achieve similar goals. The company has realised that strategic partnership with academia, governments and industry players can help it to achieve these goals. Furthermore, constant innovation and a focus on sustainability have driven the company to seek for other alternatives sources of fuels. Overall, the company shows that the aviation industry can run on biofuels without necessarily causing destruction of forests and food scarcity. Hence, the industry must recognise that only sustainable, renewable and technologically and economically sound biofuels can take it into the future.

Recommendations

The British Airways must continue to look for strategic partnership to overcome challenges identified in the current biofuels production processes.
The British Airways should strive to lead the industry by showing that crop-based biofuels are not sustainable, and therefore, other industry players should focus on alternative sources such as waste materials and algae.
The British Airways shows the need to invest, research and evaluate outcomes for sustainability strategies, and the success of these outcomes should motive other companies to explore alternative solutions to fuel price and supply volatility.

Reference List

Bomani, B. M., Bulzan, D. L., Centeno-Gomez, D. I., & Hendricks, R. C. (2009). Biofuels as an Alternative Energy Source for Aviation— A Survey. Web.

British Airways. (2010). BA Fuels Green Revolution. Web.

Dolan, R. (2011). Airlines And Biofuels: Carriers Look To Alternative Fuels For The Future. Web.

Gordon, S. (2014). Aviation offers a way forward in biofuels research. Web.

Kilaz, G., Bist, S., Lopp, D. W., Stanley, D. L., & Tao, B. Y. (2014). Investigation of fatty acid methyl esters in jet fuel. International Journal of Sustainable Aviation, vol. 1, no.1 , 103 – 118. Web.

Lane, J. (2012). Aviation biofuels: which airlines are doing what, with whom? Web.

Saddler, J., & Kumar, L. (2013). Special Issue from the NSERC Bioconversion network workshop: pretreatment and fractionation of biomass for biorefinery/biofuels. Biotechnology for Biofuels, vol. 6 , 17. Web.

Smith, T. (2012). Aviation could run on sustainable fuels by 2050, says British Airways. Web.

Stecker, T., Pyper, J., & ClimateWire. (2014). Garbage Fuel Will Power British Airways Planes. Web.

US Department of Energy. (2012). Biomass program: Replacing the whole barrel to reduce US dependence on oil. Web.

Virkajärvi, I., Niemelä, M. V., Hasanen, A., & Teir, A. (2009). Cellulosic Ethanol via Biochemical Processing Poses a Challenge for Developers and Implementors. BioResources, vol. 4, no. 4 , 1718-1735. Web.

Click Here To Order Now!