Edmonton-San Francisco flight powered by biofuels

Air Canada’s 2^nd May flight from Edmonton to San Francisco was powered by biofuels, the airline has announced.

The 146-seat Airbus A320-200 aircraft was flying the trade delegation led by the Government of Alberta, the City of Edmonton and Edmonton area businesses, to California. According to a represetative from Air Canada, the biofuel used in the flight came from the Alt Air facility in California. The Air Canada representative told Biofuels International the fuel was a 70:30 blend - 70% conventional jet fuel and 30% "derived from the biofuel."

"Air Canada is proud to partner today with the Edmonton International Airport (EIA) to operate today's flight with biofuel. Air Canada continues to support and advocate for the development of biofuel in Canada to become commercially viable; a big step towards creating more sustainable aviation in Canada and internationally,” said Teresa Ehman, director of Environmental Affairs at Air Canada.

“This is our eighth biofuel-operated flight since 2012. The result of today's biofuel use reduces this flight's carbon emissions by over 10 tonnes, which represents a 20% reduction in net carbon emissions for this flight.”

President and CEO of Edmonton International Airport Tom Ruth said: "This biofuel demonstration flight reflects our combined commitment to bring forward low carbon, renewable fuels into the aviation and airport sectors. Air Canada's leadership in the renewable resource sector strongly aligns with EIA's commitment to regional economic development and sustainability, while reducing the long-term carbon impact of airport operations."

Back in February, Air Canada was named 2018 Eco-Airline of the Year by airline industry publication Air Transport World, who cited the airline’s commitment to emissions reductions through supporting the development of alternative fuels and its numerous green programmes and partnerships.

The airline is also a research partner on the Green Aviation Research Development Network (GARDN), a non-profit organisation which funds collaborative projects aiming to reduce the environmental footprint of the next generation of aircraft, engines and avionics systems developed in Canada.