19-06-2012

Honeywell green jet fuel™ powers flights to Rio+20 united nations conference in Brazil

UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, announced today that Honeywell Green Jet Fuel™ produced from its UOP Renewable Jet Fuel process powered flights to the Rio+20 United Nations Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Rio+20 Conference brings together world leaders, governments and other participants to discuss worldwide sustainable development.

In a project led by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the first flight, operated by Aeroméxico Airlines on a Boeing 777, used Honeywell Green Jet Fuel produced from jatropha and camelina, both inedible plants. The connecting flight, operated by GOL Airlines on a Boeing 737 commercial aircraft, used Honeywell Green Jet Fuel produced from used cooking oil and inedible corn oil. Each flight used a 50/50 blend of Honeywell Green Jet Fuel with petroleum-based jet fuel.

“Honeywell Green Jet Fuel has been proven repeatedly in military and commercial flights to be a practical solution for using alternative fuel sources, as well as meeting increasingly strict emissions standards,” said Jim Rekoske, vice president and general manager of Honeywell’s UOP Renewable Energy and Chemicals business unit. “With the expected growth in fuel demand and the increasing refining capacity in Latin America over the next several years, we look forward to continuing to provide sustainable energy solutions to support the region.”

The first flight, on Aeroméxico, took place yesterday and transported ICAO’s Secretary General, Raymond Benjamin, from Mexico City, Mexico, to São Paulo, Brazil. Fuel for this flight was blended by Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares (ASA).

In 2011, Aeroméxico began using Honeywell Green Jet Fuel on its regular Mexico City to Costa Rica route as part of its “Green Flights” project, designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This marked one of the first uses of renewable fuels in everyday airplane passenger service.

Benjamin’s connecting flight, which took place today on GOL, flew from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro. Fuel for this flight was blended locally in Brazil. GOL’s aircraft feature a wide range of Honeywell Aerospace technology, including its auxiliary power unit and avionics suite. Brazil is the first South American country to install Honeywell’s SmartPath® Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS), which can increase airport capacity, decrease air traffic noise and reduce weather-related delays. SmartPath was the first GBAS to receive the Federal Aviation Administration’s System Design Approval.

Honeywell Green Jet Fuel can offer a 65 to 85 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions relative to petroleum-based fuels. When used up to a 50 percent blend with petroleum-based jet fuel, Honeywell Green Jet Fuel is a drop-in replacement for petroleum-based jet fuel that requires no changes to the aircraft technology and meets all critical specifications for flight.

Honeywell’s UOP Renewable Jet Fuel Process technology was originally developed in 2007 under a contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to produce renewable military jet fuel for the U.S. military. The process technology is fully compatible with existing hydroprocessing technology commonly used in today’s refineries to produce transportation fuels.

In 2011, Honeywell’s UOP opened a new office in Rio de Janeiro to better serve the growing oil and natural gas sector in Latin America. The office employs technical experts to provide project development, engineering services and support for Honeywell’s UOP process technology, catalysts, adsorbents and specialty equipment, as well as for Honeywell Process Solutions’ automation control solutions.