New York (AFP)
Boeing on Friday pledged to deliver passenger planes that can fly on non-petroleum fuel by 2030.
Manufacturers have been working for several years on reducing their environmental impact in order to develop less polluting fuels or less greedy aircraft engines.
The first flight of an aircraft using a mixture of kerosene and biofuel took place in 2008.
Boeing has since carried out tests with aircraft running 100% on "sustainable aviation fuel" (SAF), the group said in a statement.
These fuels are produced from plant waste, recycled household waste or used cooking oil, for example.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), SAFs can reduce CO2 emissions by 80% compared to conventional kerosene over their entire duty cycle.
Airplanes are currently allowed to fly on fuel containing up to 50% SAF.
But to "meet the aviation sector's commitment to reduce its carbon emissions by 50% from 2005 levels by 2050, planes must be able to use 100% sustainable aviation fuels well before 2050," notes Boeing .
"Our industry and our customers are committed to tackling climate change, and sustainable aviation fuels are the safest and most measurable solution to reducing carbon emissions from aviation in the decades to come," commented Boeing Civilian Aircraft Manager Stan Deal.
The manufacturer plans to work with engine manufacturers, suppliers and regulators on technical changes to allow planes to fly only with SAFs.
And at the same time continues to work on engines that can be powered by electricity or hydrogen.
The air transport association IATA launched a call last summer for greater production of sustainable aviation fuels.
"The current production of SAF is 50 million liters per year," noted the organization.
"To reach a tipping point where the scale of production would lower the costs of AFS enough to compete with jet fuel, production must reach 7 billion liters or 2% of 2019 consumption."
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