TAM, South America’s largest airline, plans to hold a non-commercial demonstration flight in the second half of 2010 using a mixture of aviation bio-fuel, which will include Brazilian vegetable biomass from the jatropha plant. The aircraft will be an Airbus A320 from the TAM fleet that will be equipped with CFM56-5B engines manufactured by CFM International, a 50/50 joint venture between GE of the United States and Snecma (Safran Group) of France.

TAM's CEO, Libano Barroso, says that the company honours its social and sustainability commitments through such an initiative. “We have put our best efforts in to using Brazilian raw materials in the production of this bio-fuel, resulting in significant economic and social gains. A source of aviation bio kerosene, the biomass is 100% Brazilian, a resulting of family agricultural projects and large farms in the hinterlands of Brazil that have been devoted to the pioneering cultivation of the jatropha plant.”

TAM has already organised the availability of the bio-fuel for the demonstration flight later this year. Through the Brazilian Association of Jatropha Producers (ABPPM), TAM acquired jatropha seeds from producers in the north, southeast and centre west of Brazil, these were then transformed into a semi-refined oil that was shipped to the US where UOP, a Honeywell company, processed the jatropha oil into bio kerosene which was mixed with conventional aviation kerosene in a 50-50 mix.

The demonstration flight will be the first in Latin America to use this innovative combination of the type of plane and engine flying with aviation bio kerosene produced from jatropha. The TAM flight will be watched and monitored by the appropriate aviation authorities.

TAM is currently studying its contribution in the development of the production chain of the vegetable biomass fuel to create a sustainable Brazilian bio-fuel platform. Known by its scientific name, Jatropha curcas L, the shrub in question is a plant that does not compete with the food chain as it is not fit for human or animal consumption, and can be intercropped with pasture and food crops.

Through a joint effort with the Brazilian Association of Jatropha Producers, TAM intends to study the commercial scale development of sustainable jatropha production, with an eye to transforming it into aviation bio-fuel. The work carried out by ABPPM shows that there are currently 60,000 hectares of land in Brazil with jatropha plantations. Considering the natural resources and the favourable climatic conditions in Brazil, a large amount of degraded pastures could be re-covered with the plant. To be able to attain a commercial scale of output, estimates suggest that it would be necessary to expand the cultivated surface to about one million hectares, sufficient to service approximately 20% of domestic consumption and demand.

“Airbus is exploring all types of alternative fuels because we believe there will be different solutions for different parts of the world,” explains Paul Nash, Airbus’ head of New Energies. “Any solution should be commercially viable and sustainable with no impact on people, land, food nor water, and should involve local jobs for local people. We call this the value chain, and this TAM initiative with Airbus is another step in this direction.”

Well-to-wake Life Cycle Assessments – carried out by Michigan Technological University in conjunction with Honeywell’s UOP – show that aviation bio fuels made from jatropha and using the UOP Green Jet Fuel process, can achieve a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of between 65 and 80 percent relative to petroleum-derived jet fuel.

The cultivation and harvest of jatropha, done in a responsible fashion, adds social and economic value to local communities and does not compete with the production of food or potable water sources, complying with the principles set out by the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group (SAFUG), a group TAM joined in 11 November 2009. The group is made up of large international airlines whose aim it is to speed up the development and marketing of new sustainable fuels for the aviation industry.

Beyond the requirements of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group, TAM also follows the concepts and criteria established by RSB (Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels), a renowned international organization that is acknowledged for its technical and scientific prestige. RSB’s criteria include best production practices, and the use and transportation of bio-fuels with regard to social, environmental and economic responsibilities.