Qatar Airways yesterday (11th January) unveilled a biojet fuel development programme that will be backed by Qatar Science & Technology Park, Qatar Petroleum and Airbus. The programme follows the company's successful trail of a Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) fuel blend, as part of a commercial flight, last October.

Addressing a press conference in Doha, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said: "Building on the experience and success of the GTL Consortium, we now move to the next phase of alternative fuels while continuing to develop GTL further. While others talk, we take action!"

Seven months ago, Qatar Airways, Qatar Science & Technology Park together with US-based Verno Systems Inc., embarked on a feasibility study on sustainable Biomass-to-Liquid (BTL) jet fuel and possible by-products such as biodiesel.

The study, says the company, looked at all available bio feed stocks that would not affect the food or fresh water supply chain. It also looked at existing and future production technologies with a viability analysis. Based on the result of the study, the partners have agreed to establish the "Qatar Advanced Biofuel Platform" (QABP) which will lead activities in the following four areas.

    * A detailed engineering and implementation plan for economically viable and sustainable bio fuel production
* A bio fuel investment strategy
* An advanced technology development programme
* Ongoing market and strategic analysis

These activities will be built on, and primarily motivated by, the objective of executing advanced bio fuel projects – with Qatar Airways initially as a dedicated end-user.