The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has released a report which shows that, with oil around $US100 a barrel, lower emission jet fuels are economic for the Australian aviation industry.
It predicts that 40 per cent of an airline's fuel could be the lower emission biofuel by 2050.The CSIRO says the global airline industry emits 2 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
"Even though that sounds small the aviation industry acknowledges that it does need to look at reducing its emissions," said Paul Graham, the CSIRO's manager of carbon futures.
The industry will need to work harder to do that as more and more people take to the skies.
A key part of the solution could be the replacement of regular jet fuels with so-called bio derived fuels - made from biomass such oil seed trees, algae, the stubble from crops as well as urban waste.
Paul Graham says the Australian aviation industry could cut emissions by 17 per cent over the next 20 years with the use of such fuels.
"What we found was that we do have substantial non-food biomass resources, resources that won't interfere with food production," he said.
The CSIRO, in conjunction with the airline industry, has released a report showing Australia has the biomass and the technology to support a bio derived jet fuel industry.
Mr Graham says the current level of oil prices means it is also economic.
"The question that we faced was the volatility of the oil market means you could set up a refining and fuel supply chain now, but if the fuel price drops in a couple of years you might be losing money," he explained.
"So what the industry needs to do, and this is what's recommended in the report, is develop some long-term contracting arrangements to get the industry off the ground, so it can ride through the initial oil price volatility.
"As the cost of the various technologies for refining the biomass come down, it will be able to withstand that sort of volatility in the future."
However, while the report says the aviation industry needs to help kick start the bio derived jet fuel industry, airlines' first port of call appears to be government.
The head of environment, resilience, and workplace transformation at Qantas John Valastro says airlines want government help to fund the best refining technologies and help to build the infrastructure.
He says the industry also wants assistance to adapt to any future carbon price regime.
"Our particular industry, as an example, has already been making quite substantial strategic plans around changing for example fleet renewal," he said.
"So we are looking at a whole range of new fleet types that are much more efficient, but these have very long lead times so for us it is really important to actually have the government acknowledge that this industry in particular is focused very much on carbon reduction, but at the same time they also need to understand some of the hurdles that are actually in place to actually get there."
Paul Graham says setting up a jet biofuel industry would have broader benefits.
"If an industry like this goes ahead, it could actually be a job creation opportunity for Australia," he said.
"There is potentially about 12,000 new jobs that could be created by 2030. It could save imports of the order of $2 billion of jet fuel, so there is significant benefits for Australia if we can start to substitute oil for biomass in this industry over the long term."
The CSIRO report envisages the set up of the first refining facility to turn biomass into fuel on a commercial scale by 2015.
It predicts that 40 per cent of an airline's fuel could be the lower emission biofuel by 2050.The CSIRO says the global airline industry emits 2 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
"Even though that sounds small the aviation industry acknowledges that it does need to look at reducing its emissions," said Paul Graham, the CSIRO's manager of carbon futures.
The industry will need to work harder to do that as more and more people take to the skies.
A key part of the solution could be the replacement of regular jet fuels with so-called bio derived fuels - made from biomass such oil seed trees, algae, the stubble from crops as well as urban waste.
Paul Graham says the Australian aviation industry could cut emissions by 17 per cent over the next 20 years with the use of such fuels.
"What we found was that we do have substantial non-food biomass resources, resources that won't interfere with food production," he said.
The CSIRO, in conjunction with the airline industry, has released a report showing Australia has the biomass and the technology to support a bio derived jet fuel industry.
Mr Graham says the current level of oil prices means it is also economic.
"The question that we faced was the volatility of the oil market means you could set up a refining and fuel supply chain now, but if the fuel price drops in a couple of years you might be losing money," he explained.
"So what the industry needs to do, and this is what's recommended in the report, is develop some long-term contracting arrangements to get the industry off the ground, so it can ride through the initial oil price volatility.
"As the cost of the various technologies for refining the biomass come down, it will be able to withstand that sort of volatility in the future."
However, while the report says the aviation industry needs to help kick start the bio derived jet fuel industry, airlines' first port of call appears to be government.
The head of environment, resilience, and workplace transformation at Qantas John Valastro says airlines want government help to fund the best refining technologies and help to build the infrastructure.
He says the industry also wants assistance to adapt to any future carbon price regime.
"Our particular industry, as an example, has already been making quite substantial strategic plans around changing for example fleet renewal," he said.
"So we are looking at a whole range of new fleet types that are much more efficient, but these have very long lead times so for us it is really important to actually have the government acknowledge that this industry in particular is focused very much on carbon reduction, but at the same time they also need to understand some of the hurdles that are actually in place to actually get there."
Paul Graham says setting up a jet biofuel industry would have broader benefits.
"If an industry like this goes ahead, it could actually be a job creation opportunity for Australia," he said.
"There is potentially about 12,000 new jobs that could be created by 2030. It could save imports of the order of $2 billion of jet fuel, so there is significant benefits for Australia if we can start to substitute oil for biomass in this industry over the long term."
The CSIRO report envisages the set up of the first refining facility to turn biomass into fuel on a commercial scale by 2015.
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