Fly the [Lindo maravilhoso!] skies: GOL completes first biofuels commercial flight in Brazil

October 23, 2013 |

GolIn Brazil, GOL became the first airline to make a commercial flight with a renewable jet fuel in Brazil. The GOL flight was between São Paulo and Brasilia, using renewable jet fuel. provided by Honeywell’s UOP. The company said that it aims to fly up to 200 routes using advanced biofuels during the 2014 World Cup.

Expanding on the GOL announcement, Amyris and the Brazilian carrier announced a memorandum of understanding that could pave the way for GOL commercial flights to use Amyris renewable jet fuel in 2014.

Under the memorandum of understanding, GOL and Amyris will work together to establish a framework for bringing Amyris renewable jet fuel produced from Brazilian sugarcane to GOL’s commercial flights following regulatory approvals and validation by standard-setting bodies, including ASTM International and Brazil’s Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency.

Lifecycle analysis indicates that the Amyris renewable jet fuel could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% or more when compared to convention fossil-derived jet fuel. Amyris has applied for certification under the Roundtable of Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) and is a member of Bonsucro, the world’s leading sugarcane sustainability standard.

Reaction from the partners

“GOL supports all initiatives to help make Brazilian aviation more sustainable,” says Paulo Kakinoff, President of GOL. During this past year, the airline’s fuel saving initiatives have helped it to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 30 thousand tons.

“We are committed to working with the aviation industry to bring cleaner skies, starting in Brazil in 2014. Following two successful demonstration flights and a series of successful tests with multiple industry stakeholders, we look forward to receiving ASTM validation and ANP approval of our breakthrough renewable jet fuel produced from Brazilian sugarcane,” said John Melo, Amyris’s President & CEO.

“GOL is committed to making commercial aviation more efficient and sustainable. Our experimental flight with renewable jet fuel at the Rio+20 in 2012 was an important step to guide our work. Today, we advance one more step,” said Adalberto Bogsan, Vice President of GOL.

Amyris operates a production facility, located adjacent to the Paraiso sugarcane mill in Brotas, Sao Paulo to convert sugars into a renewable hydrocarbon, farnesene, which can be processed into a drop-in renewable jet fuel compliant with Jet A/A-1 specifications following regulatory and industry approvals.

During 2013, GOL completed a number of projects and has established even more solid partnerships. In September, GOL participated in the launch of the Brazilian Green Skies project, which aims to improve the efficiency of Brazilian airspace.

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