Agrisoma, United Airlines and World Energy partner on first transatlantic biojet flight

Date:09-13-2018

Agrisoma Biosciences Inc., a Canadian agri-tech company that sells Carinata seeds used to produce aviation biojet fuel, will partner with United Airlines and World Energy on Agrisoma's second international commercial flight powered by biojet fuel made from Carinata seed oil. The nonstop San Francisco-to-Zurich flight on a Boeing 787 departs on Sept. 14 at 2:10 p.m. from San Francisco International Airport and arrives Sept. 15 at 10:10 a.m. at Zurich Airport (aka Kloten Airport).

The biojet fuel made from Carinata and refined by World Energy's AltAir Fuels, replaces 30 percent of the petroleum jet fuel needed for the flight. Fuels made from Carinata, a non-food, mustard-like oilseed, lead the aviation industry in greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction.

"This flight is another milestone for the aviation industry's move toward low-carbon fuels," said Steve Fabijanski, founder, CEO and president of Agrisoma. "At 11 hours, it is the longest transatlantic biojet flight undertaken to date, and, with the fuel-efficient Boeing 787, represents the lowest carbon footprint commercial flight across the Atlantic. It is our second international biojet flight powered by Carinata, but there are more to come."

Earlier this year, Agrisoma and Australia's Qantas Airways partnered on a transpacific flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne that used biojet fuel produced from Carinata.

Agrisoma has commercial agreements across the global aviation industry to supply Carinata for a low-carbon fuel that is chemically identical to conventional, petroleum-derived jet fuel. Agrisoma has Carinata growers in place throughout the Americas and Australia, where Carinata is grown as a second crop to complement existing crop production, delivering additional on-farm income and soil health benefits.

Carinata Biojet fuel is made by harvesting tons of Carinata crop, crushing the grain to recover the oil and refining that oil into jet fuel by the same process used for petroleum-derived jet fuel.

Carinata biojet fuel typically replaces 10 to 30 percent of the petroleum jet fuel needed for a flight, making a cleaner fuel blend that reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Production of biofuel from Carinata seeds yields both biofuel and, as a byproduct, high-protein animal feed. Stems and leaves from the crop are returned to the field to enrich the soil for subsequent crops. Carinata is the first oilseed to be certified sustainable by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB), the independent global standard and certification program for sustainable biofuels.

About Agrisoma

Agrisoma Biosciences Inc. is an agricultural company based in Gatineau, Quebec, that has commercialized Carinata, a non-food oilseed crop designed for sustainable production of biofuels. Agrisoma uses advanced crop improvement technologies to provide superior Carinata seed varieties to growers. For further information, visit www.agrisoma.com.