Within a few years the contents of your bin liner may
actually help power the aircraft taking you on your annual holiday, so absolving you of responsibility for the emissions and obviating the need to offset.

That’s the vision being presented by British Airways, which, in partnership with biofuel producer Solena plans to establish Europe’s first sustainable jet-fuel plant and use the low-carbon fuel to power part of its fleet from 2014.

BA says the plant, to be located in East London, will convert
500,000 tonnes of waste per year into 16 million gallons of green jet fuel through a process that offers lifecycle greenhouse gas savings of up to 95% compared to foss il-fuel derived jet kerosene.

According to the airline, the reduction in carbon emissions would be the equivalent of taking 48,000 cars off the road per year.

Sounds impressive? Well, it’s unlikely to put much of a dent in overall global aviation emissions: the number of flights is expected to grow enormously over the next decade – hence the government’s insistence on supporting a third runway at Heathrow – and biofuels are, at best, only likely to provide a small proportion of jet fuel – it will still need to be mixed with kerosene. Also, BA still requires permission from UK authorities to use the fuel in its aircraft. Better to limit your number of flights and, if you must fly, continue to offset.