OREANDA-NEWS. July 07, 2011. In what is being claimed as a breakthrough in China's quest for alternative fuels, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has successfully developed biofuel for aircraft, according to a report in Global Times.

Asia's largest oil producer delivered 15 tonnes of biofuel to China National Aviation Fuel Group Corporation, which will be used by Air China to conduct the country's first biofuel-powered test flight later this year, CNPC said on its website last week. The company says it has developed the "key processing technologies of aviation biofuel."

The achievement marks a breakthrough for China in producing biofuel from non-grain feedstocks. Back in May, CNPC, Boeing Co and Air China inked an agreement to evaluate the development of a sustainable aviation biofuel industry in China.

"The quality standard for the aviation fuel is much higher because of the freezing temperature and lack of oxygen when the planes fly at the cruising altitude. The new technology for processing biofuel makes it suitable for use by aircraft in the unusual weather conditions of high altitude," Cao Yin, a consultant with Frost and Sullivan, a global market research consultancy, told Global Times.

"If the international crude oil prices keep rising and each government sets strict emission standards, aviation biofuel will have more demand. Raising the scale of production could also be a possible way to lower its cost," Cao said.

China is aiming at a 22 percent aviation industry reduction in emission intensity and energy consumption by by the end of 2020, compared with the level in 2005, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.