British Airways have revealed a plan to create Europe’s first sustainable jet fuel plant which will convert household waste into environmentally-friendly aviation fuel.

In a partnership with US bioenergy group solena, British Airways will set up the new plant in east London claims eTravel and hope to be able to power part of its fleet by 2014 with the greener, low-carbon fuel.

The plant will convert roughly 500,000 tonnes of waste materials from households into some 16 million gallons of green jet fuel via a process that offers lifecycle greenhouse gas savings of up to 95 per cent compared to fossil-fuel derived jet kerosene.

The environmental savings would see the equivalent of 48,000 cars being removed from the roads each year.

In addition to the fuel conversion, using household waste would also lessen the impact on the volume of waste sent to landfill sites, as well as cutting down on the production of methane. The project will also see 20MW of electricity generated each year.

Willie Walsh, British Airways’ chief executive, said: “This unique partnership with Solena will pave the way for realising our ambitious goal of reducing net carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2050. We believe it will lead to the production of a real sustainable alternative to jet kerosene. We are absolutely determined to reduce our impact on climate change and are proud to lead the way on aviation’s environmental initiatives.”

A quarter of London households are to be powered by a wind farm, known as the London Array, in the Thames Estuary by the year 2012.

The wind farm – being built by a consortium of E.ON, Dong Energy and Masdar – is to be the biggest offshore farm of its kind. Work on the £2billion project will start this year before beginning to produce electricity in 2012.

There had been doubts over the project – which was first muted in 2006 – especially when one of the major financiers, oil company Shell, pulled out in 2008. Masdar stepped into the vacant spot but even with their funding the project would not have been able to go ahead without changes to the Budget announced last month, with a boost to the Renewables Obligation Certificate (ROC) incentive scheme.

The ROC came into effect in 2002 to encourage the generation of electricity in the UK from renewable sources. The most recent goals set ask for 15.4% of the UK’s energy to come from green sources by the year 2015. The London Array alone would account for just below 7% of this target.

Ed Miliband, energy secretary, said: “The London Array sends an important signal about the UK renewables market and the confidence of major suppliers, and vindicates the decision in the Budget about the ROCs.”

Hybrids may typically be associated with celebs and tree-huggers, but it looks like they’re going to become part of six million journeys made every workday in London. This is of course Transport for London’s plans to completely transform its mighty bus fleet into an eco-friendly system by 2012.

The plans to introduce eco-friendly public transport buses have been in the pipeline for years. Originally a driving force of Ken Livingston’s transport campaign, the idea was put under trial in 2006. Unfortunately the engines overheated, and the trials were temporarily put on hold.

Earlier this year the trials were revived with six hybrid buses taking to the streets of London. After a successful trial, the six buses were formally introduced into the fleet and plans are now being made to add an additional 8000 in time for the Olympic Games.

According to the transport for London website the hybrid buses “reduce emissions of local pollutants and carbon dioxide by at least 30 per cent compared to a conventional diesel bus.” Built around a typical London driving experience, the batteries are deigned to charge each time the bus brakes.

London is just one of many world cities introducing green buses. New York, San Francisco and Toronto have already introduced green buses with plans to revamp their entire systems. The move will highlight the UK’s position as an eco-conscious country; the capital’s iconic red buses now a symbol of change.

Picture from All About Buses