Solazyme, Inc., a renewable oils and bioproducts company, has begun a collaboration with Qantas to pursue the potential for commercial production of Solazyme’s microbial-derived aviation fuel, Solajet, in Australia. This represents the first collaboration in the Asia-Pacific region to explore the use of Solajet in commercial aviation.
There is currently a 6 billion liter (1.6 billion gallons US) a year demand for aviation fuel in Australia. Through this collaboration, both Qantas and Solazyme are striving to help meet this demand.
Developing cleaner jet fuels is vitally important for the global aviation industry and for the Qantas Group. The costs and environmental impacts associated with traditional jet fuel mean it is imperative that we push hard now for the commercialization of alternative fuel sources.
Over the next year, we look forward to working with Solazyme—and with other important government and private sector stakeholders— to build the case for clean jet fuel production in Australia. We believe this is important not just for Qantas but for the Australian economy as a whole, given the global emergence of green technologies and their potential to drive growth and create jobs.
—Alan Joyce, Qantas Chief Executive Officer
A study undertaken in 2009 by Life Cycle Associates, LLC, using the Argonne National Laboratories GREET model, concluded that full lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from field-to-wheels for Solazyme’s algal biofuel, Soladiesel, are 85 to 93% lower than standard petroleum based ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD).