The Boeing Company BA has joined forces with a consortium of research institutions and Canada’s aviation industry partners in an effort to convert forest waste like sawdust and leftover branches to sustainable aviation biofuel through thermochemical processing.
Canada has expansive stretches of certified forest which help its aviation industry to assess the long-term viability of forest residue-sources biofuel. This project has received funding from Green Aviation Research and Development Network of Canada as part of its strategy to invest in technologies to reduce aviation's carbon emissions.
In 2015, a Boeing-sponsored research concluded that aviation biofuel sourced from forest waste could meet 10% of British Columbia’s annual jet consumption needs and help in reducing CO2 emissions by 1 million tons annually across the entire transportation sector.
Per the U.S. Department of Energy, sustainable biofuel reduces lifecycle carbon dioxide emissions by 50% to 80% compared to conventional petroleum. This can aid the aviation industry to achieve its greenhouse gas saving targets, which include carbon-neutral growth from 2020 and a net reduction in carbon emissions of 50% by 2050 from 2005.
Boeing, having active biofuel projects on six continents, has been taking initiatives to protect the environment by reducing the aviation industry’s carbon footprint. In November, Boeing collaborated with renewable diesel producer Neste to promote the supply and commercialization of aviation biofuel and thereby reduce its cost. The companies are working toward securing approval from the American Society for Testing and Materials for the use of high freezing biojet fuel for commercial airlines.
As per Boeing's estimates, driven by the growth in air travel, the global aircraft fleet willl increase by 36,770 new airplanes between 2014 and 2033. Hence, this new development can come in handy in lowering emissions from the greater fleet of aircraft , which would make an impact globally across the aviation sector and not restrict it to British Columbia.
Zacks Rank
Boeing carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other stocks worth considering in the aerospace and defense industry are Leidos Holdings, Inc. LDOS, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and General Dynamics Corp. GD and TransDigm Group Inc. TDG carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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