Climatewire: British Airways PLC has reached an agreement to become the exclusive buyer for a proposed plant that could eventually produce 16 million gallons of jet fuel per year from landfill waste.
The facility, being developed in London by Washington, D.C.-based Solena Group Inc., would be the first plant in Europe to turn waste into jet fuel.
Requiring about 500,000 tons of waste per year, the plant could reduce the amount of garbage sent to landfills while providing enough fuel for about 2 percent of flights originating at London Heathrow Airport.
The biofuel that would be produced by the plant is not yet certified for use in the United Kingdom, but British Airways says it believes it could secure that certification by 2014, when the plant is expected to begin producing fuel (Richard Scott, BBC News, Feb. 15). – GN