British Airways to Use Trash for Jet Fuel

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British Airways plans to construct a fuel plant that will convert landfill waste into millions of gallons of jet fuel, which could reduce net carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2050. According to a recent article on Treehugger, the airline is working with Solena, a U.S.-based biofuels company, to achieve its ambitious goal. Treehugger writes of the process:

The fuel will be produced by feeding waste into a patented high temperature gasifier, producing BioSynGas which is then converted into jet fuel using the FIscher Tropsch process. As a bonus, the project will reduce methane emissions from landfill and create a by-product of 20 MW electricity per year.

British Airways hopes to put the fuel into operation by 2014 and the process should have the dual benefit of creating hundreds of new jobs. We've heard about quite a few alternative fuel proposals, from algae to chicken parts, but I like the idea that this alternative fuel could potentially curb trash accumulation as well. If successful, similar fuel could be used by other airlines and begin to alleviate our great big garbage problem.Photo (cc) by Flickr user BriYYZ