Once their provision becomes possible, the ANA Group aims to launch commercial flights using next-generation aviation fuels (*1) by 2020, the year of the Tokyo Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. To this end, we are participating in the aforementioned Committee for the Study of a Process Leading to Introduction of Bio Jet Fuel in order to share information and find solutions.
As the importance of efforts to address global environmental issues continues to grow, companies around the world have made pledges toward carbon-neutral growth. In the aviation industry, this is represented by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) General Assembly's endorsement of a resolution to not increase CO2 emissions by international air transport after 2020 (CNG 2020). Due to this resolution and the pioneering steps that are being taken in Europe, the United States, etc., the establishment of a supply chain for next-generation aviation fuels has become an urgent issue for Japan. Companies from a broad range of fields, including air transport, energy, manufacturing, and trade, therefore joined together to form the Initiatives for Next Generation Aviation Fuels (INAF) to establish the necessary supply chain and promote wider usage of next-generation fuels. After a year-long discussion, a roadmap for the above was formulated in July 2015.
Comprising the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), Ministry of the Environment, the Scheduled Airlines Association of Japan, Petroleum Association of Japan, NEDO (*2), Boeing Japan and manufacturers, the Committee for the Study of a Process Leading to Introduction of Bio Jet Fuel was established with the aim of overcoming challenges in realizing flights by aircraft using alternative aviation fuels, in light of the aforementioned results.
The ANA Group is also supporting research towards realizing the use of alternative aviation fuels by 2020 through its participation in a research group that is made up of aircraft manufacturers as well as their affiliates. In Japan, the ANA Group is providing support for R&D for alternative aviation fuels produced from so-called second-generation non-plant materials such as the microalgae Euglena. In particular, we are investors in Euglena Co., Ltd., a company possessing cutting-edge technology in this area.