Around half a million tonnes of waste a year is to be transformed into aviation fuel after British Airways reached an agreement to construct a ground-breaking biofuel plant in the UK.
Under the newly-announced plans, a waste recycling facility for the bulk handling of the material will become operational in the east of London by 2014, and could be fitted with parts such as bucket elevators.
As well as creating more than 1,000 jobs, the plant will be able to produce some 16 million gallons of fuel each year from high-carbon waste matter, while also feeding power back into the National Grid.
According to British Airways’ initial estimates, the amount of biofuel produced through the waste recycling initiative will be more than sufficient to power its flights out of London City Airport, though will only represent two per cent of the total fuel used in its operations out of Heathrow.
Meanwhile, rival carrier Virgin Atlantic is also looking into the possibility of using biofuel to power its planes, potentially increasing demand for specialist machinery such as load cell weighing systems and vibratory sensory equipment which can be used in the production of the fuel.
However, just this week, a report from the charity Action Aid warned that the European Union’s biofuel ambitions could be forcing developing countries to move away from growing much-needed food crops.