Affordable biofuels for the airplane industry is the common aim for all rivals plane makers such as Airbus, Boeing and Embraer.
They agreed to seek opportunities to speak to government and biofuel producers “to support, promote and accelerate the availability of sustainable new jet fuel sources.”
Airbus and Boeing have already launched programmes independently to develop alternatives to kerosene, a major greenhouse gas pollutant, to power their airplanes.
“We are all committed to take a leading role in the development of technology programmes that will facilitate aviation biofuels development and actual application faster than if we were doing it independently,” said Paulo César Silva, Embraer chief executive.
The plane makers said they were committed to reducing the industry’s substantial carbon footprint, the term commonly used for emissions of greenhouse gases.
“We’ve achieved a lot in the last 10 years in reducing our industry’s carbon footprint — a 45 percent traffic growth with only three percent more fuel consumption,” Airbus chief executive Tom Enders said.
This week Airbus announced collaboration with Australia Virgin Airline to explore biofuels production from eucalyptus leaves that grow in arid regions.
This is a big step not only towards sustainability, but also towards keeping airline travel affordable and accessible to the average person.