China intends to make jet fuel from restaurant waste
Zhenhai Refining and Chemical, a Sinopec subsidiary, is to build a full-scale production plant that converts waste kitchen oil into jet fuel. The facility will be able to convert 100,000 tonnes of kitchen oil into 30,000 tonnes of aviation-grade biofuel per annum, and could be used by airlines operating long-haul international flights, in particular to countries that charge high-emissions taxes. The company says it will break ground on the plant in 2018. More than 1,500 flights have used biofuel for demonstration purposes since 2011, but it has made no headway in the commercial market.
A Hainan Airlines Boeing 737 used a 50-50 mix of conventional jet fuel and biofuel on a flight from Shanghai to Beijing in 2015. Photo: Handout