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18 January 2019 – In a major milestone for the Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium (SBRC) at the Masdar Institute in the United Arab Emirates, Etihad Airways flew a Boeing 787 from Abu Dhabi to Amsterdam using a fuel blend including alternative jet fuel made from the oils halophytic (salt-tolerant) plant Salicornia. The SBRC has been working on a project around “Seawater Energy and Agriculture Systems” in which halophytes are cultivated in conjunction with shrimp and fish farming. Halophytes have been proposed as a biofuel feedstock solution because they can be grown in arid environments with no freshwater inputs. The SBRC anticipates that this feedstock can contribute to alternative jet fuels that are sustainable and significantly reduce the carbon footprint of jet fuels. While currently only two hectares of Salicornia are being grown, the team expects to scale up to 200 hectares in the next few years as a step towards full-scale commercial implementation.
For more information, see the press release here.
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