Australian company collaborate with Lufthansa in biofuels deal

German airline Lufthsana has signed a biofuels collaboration agreement with Australian biofuels company Algae.Tec.

According to their website, Algae.Tec.: “Offers a sustainable and renewable advanced algae-to-biofuels technology.”

Lufthsana is a privately owned airline – the largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried and fleet size.

The duo plan to contract a large-scale construction which uses algae to produce aviation biofuels.

The destination of the plant is yet to be released – the only known knowledge is that it will be sited near to an industrial CO2 source in a European country.

A spokeswoman for the airline claimed that the location was not yet found, and that the company are still looking continent-wide in their search for an appropriate home for the plant. She also claimed that the project is still in early stages, and final approval from the Lufthansa board still needs to be given.

In a statement, Algae.Tec has asserted that the airline will arrange 100 per cent of the funding for the project, although they did not give an estimate of the cost. Algae.Tec will manage and receive all licence fees and profits from the project.

As part of the agreement, Lufthansa commits to a long-term agreement of at least 50 percent of the fuel produced at an agreed price, Algae.Tec. Lufthansa plan to arrange finance for the plant but not make investment itself, the spokeswoman claimed.

Details of the possible plant size, cost or start up date are not yet available.

The long term plan is to produce 2 million tonnes of biofuel for aviation by 2020. This plan was established by a collaboration of European airlines, biofuel producers and the EU Commission. The pact was signed last year, and this agreement is part of their long-term aims.

Posted by Claire Manning