China National Aviation Fuel Supply Co has long been the sole supplier of jet fuel to airlines in the country, but another option is in the pipeline.

Though initially small in production, the new source is also eco-friendly.

China's leading oil refiner Sinopec Group recently received a license from the Civil Aviation Administration for commercial production of its aviation biofuel made with proprietary technologies.

Sinopec's No 1 Biofuel was approved as airworthy on Feb 12. Made from canola, cottonseed and gutter oils, it will start with annual production of 3,000 tons.

China's airlines currently use about 20 million tons of fuel yearly.

The biofuel is also more expensive than traditional aviation fuel due to higher production costs, but some airlines have already shown interest, according to Xinhua News Agency.

A report from China Intellectual Property News said industry insiders consider the license - the first of its kind in China - a milestone in the history of the country's civil aviation industry.

Dai Houliang, senior vice-president of Sinopec, said the achievement is "a significant breakthrough in the development of aviation biofuel and will make all Chinese people proud".

"We consider the airworthiness certification a new starting point - we will make more efforts to diversify sources of biofuel and build partnerships with more Chinese and foreign airlines," Dai said.

Xu Chaoqun, a senior official from the CAAC, told China National Radio that the importance of the license is also "the establishment of a complete set of industrial standards in China".

It also makes China the fourth country in the world to produce aviation biofuel using homegrown technologies following the United States, France and Finland.

Compared with traditional aviation fuel, biofuel greatly reduces carbon dioxide emissions during its lifecycle, according to Sinopec.

The US and many countries in Europe have carried out research and test flights of aviation biofuel since 2008. US carrier Continental Airlines finished the world's first test flight of biofuel in commercial use in 2009.

Sinopec started its research project the same year. It set up comprehensive production facilities at its Hangzhou plant and managed to turn food waste oil into high-tech biofuel for jet planes in 2012.

In April last year, a China Eastern Airlines Airbus 320 powered by Sinopec's biofuel successfully finished a test flight of nearly two hours after taking off from Shanghai.

To date, Sinopec has filed 39 patent applications in China and foreign countries related to producing the fuel. Two have been approved in the US and 17 authorized in China, according to the Derwent World Patents Index database.

Leading foreign companies in the industry are also starting to build their patent portfolio in China.

Led by giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron, US refiners have filed some 200 patent applications, while French companies including Total Corp have filed about 20 applications.

The International Air Transport Association estimates that 30 percent of the aviation fuel used globally by 2020 will be biofuel.

haonan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 02/26/2014 page17)