On August 17, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, issued a nationwide challenge to Canadians to develop the cleanest, most affordable and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for the aviation sector to further reduce its carbon footprint and fight climate change. “This unique challenge facilitates collaborations to support a game-changing transformation of the aviation industry," said Minister Sohi.
Dubbed the Sky’s the Limit Challenge, it is designed to stimulate the development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supply chains so that the Canadian aviation industry can further reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and lower the flying public’s environmental footprint.
Reducing emissions from the aviation sector is a priority for the Government of Canada. To achieve our goal, we must collectively find creative solutions to develop cleaner fuels. The Sky’s the Limit Challenge is an innovative idea to leverage Canada’s know-how in fighting climate change, said Canada’s Minister of Transport Marc Garneau.
While the Canadian aviation sector has made significant investments in a fuel-efficient fleet, other measures such as sustainable aviation fuel will be required to achieve industry targets of carbon-neutral growth by 2020 and a 50 percent reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050.
As the 2018 ATW Eco-Airline of the Year, Air Canada supports the advancement of innovative solutions to improve aviation’s environmental performance, and we welcome the announcement by Natural Resources Canada in encouraging further development of sustainable aviation fuel solutions. Air Canada has improved its fuel efficiency by 43 percent since 1990 and is investing CA$10 billion in a more fuel-efficient fleet, said Teresa Ehman, Director Environmental Affairs, Air Canada
Two prize-winning opportunities
The Challenge consists of two competitions open to a range of innovators and includes significant prize money:
- First, the Green Aviation Fuels Innovation Competition provides CA$2 million apiece for four teams who develop the most innovative solutions, which, in turn, will support their next endeavour: an 18-month competition to produce the most economical and environmentally sustainable aviation fuel and win the CA$5 million grand prize;
- Second, the Cross-Canada Flight Competition, where the first participant to fuel a Canadian commercial flight using a minimum 10 percent blend of made-in-Canada biojet fuel will win CA$1 million.
Challenge organizers have engaged a wide range of partners to support a biojet supply chain in Canada, including researchers, feedstock supplies, fuel producers, and consumers. Air Canada and WestJet will also play key roles in the Challenge by serving as carriers for the Cross-Canada Flight Competition.
WestJet is proud to support The Sky’s the Limit Challenge and the Cross-Canada Flight Competition, bringing together innovators, industry and government to work together to develop cleaner, affordable biojet fuel to help our industry continue to reduce its carbon footprint. With our long history of innovation, as well as our ongoing participation in a number of clean-fuel initiatives, we look forward to engaging with members of the biojet value chain to meet this challenge to achieve a cleaner, more sustainable future, said Mike McNaney, Vice President, Industry, Corporate and Airport Affairs, WestJet.
The Challenge leverages the international reach of Canada’s Green Aviation Research and Development Network (GARDN), a not-for-profit organization funded by the Business-Led Network of Centres of Excellence (BL-NCE) of the Government of Canada and the Canadian aerospace industry with a mission to collaborate on projects that can reduce the environmental footprint of the next generation of aircraft engines and avionics systems in Canada.
Since 2009, GARDN has played a pioneer role in the sector of green aviation that includes sustainable fuels by creating industrial research consortia in different stages of the value chain. GARDN is proud to be a partner in The Sky’s the Limit Challenge, a novel initiative that could help launch a new industry in an effort to improve aviation energy as we know it, said Sylvain Cofsky, Executive Director, GARDN.
According to Natural Resources Canada, the Canadian government is exploring opportunities to purchase biojet fuel for future use in federal aviation fleets once it is commercially available at a competitive price. The Department of National Defence and Transport Canada have indicated their early support for this venture.
The Sky’s the Limit Challenge is the second of five planned challenges under Natural Resources Canada’s CA$75-million Impact Canada Initiative, which is helping to drive innovation and accelerate the clean growth economy.
