Biofuel a long-term bet: Luxon

Air New Zealand CE Christopher Luxon says using biofuel in aircraft is a long-term bet as the industry struggles to find a sustainable alternative to traditional aviation fuel. He said the airline had received about 30 expressions of interest in developing biofuel from this region and infrastructure in partnership with Virgin Australia. It was whittling down a shortlist of companies now. "It's a long term bet. It's really hard to scale these things up," he said. While a commercial programme was a long way off it was important to keep working to develop alternative fuels, he said. The aviation industry, responsible for more than 2% of greenhouse gases, is being pushed to act this week by delegates from 190 nations, who are debating a UN accord in Montreal that would cap emissions from international flights. Air New Zealand is one of the biggest fuel users in the country and within the company fuel burning is responsible for more than 99% of its carbon emissions.<br/>