Plans to grow algal biomass in airport grounds for aircraft fuel are moving forward supported by Airbus, British Airways and Cranfield University. On September 16, European aircraft manufacturer Airbus of Blagnac, France, London-based British Airways, and Gatwick airport in Surrey, announced a collaboration with Cranfield University, UK, through the Sustainable Use of Renewable Fuels (SURF) consortium. For the past three years, Cranfield University scientists have been researching algal-derived biofuel for use in aviation. Now, with their partners at SURF, they are working to scale up from their pilot plant (a thousand gallons per batch) for commercial output. Unlike the automobile industry, the aviation sector lacks the option to use electric alternatives for energy, says Feargal Brennan, head of Cranfield University's Department of Offshore, Process and Energy Engineering. “For the foreseeable future the aviation industry will depend on biofuels, so they have to take a lead in commercial biofuel replacements,” Brennan says. Paul Nash, Airbus' head of New Energies and Environmental Affairs notes that the firm is collaborating on biofuel projects with research groups from Brazil and Qatar. Later this year Brazilian airline TAM will test a fuel mixture of bio-kerosene derived from the native jatropha plant in an Airbus aircraft. “What we're finding today is that the industry is moving faster [through partnerships] than R&D or governments would do,” says Nash. “As an industry, we can say: 'our aircrafts are ready for this'.”