aireg celebrated its fifth anniversary

aireg – Aviation Initiative for Renewable Energy in Germany e.V. – commemorated its five-year existence on June 8, 2016.

On June 8, 2011, the founding members of aireg – in presence of Dr. Peter Ramsauer, former Federal Minister of Transport – demonstrated their desire for the foundation of this initiative, which was incorporated at a constituent general meeting taking place on September 19, 2011.

Companies and organizations from industry, research and science are valuable members of aireg.  aireg is promoting the development and usage of renewable liquid fuels in order to help achieve the ambitious carbon reduction targets of the aviation sector. aireg aims to replace 10% of the German jet fuel demand with sustainable, alternative aviation fuels by 2025.

On the occasion of the ceremony honoring its fifth anniversary, aireg president Professor Jürgen Raps welcomed numerous guests from enterprises, research institutes and politics. Jürgen Raps stated: “We can be more than proud of aireg’s achievements since its foundation. During the last years, roughly 2.000 flights were operated worldwide with alternative biofuels, and our founding member Lufthansa can claim nearly 60% on its account. In no other country was the usage of ASTM certified alternative kerosene so thoroughly proven to be non-hazardous in operational practice as in Germany. Based on this knowledge, and jointly with our partners, we can continue to pursue the usage of alternative fuels in Germany in the upcoming years.”

aireg members again reinforced their commitment to achieve the goal of substituting 10% of German kerosene consumption with sustainable and regenerative sources of fuels. With excellent scientific expertise, aireg has significantly promoted and contributed to research and promotion of regenerative fuels in Germany over the last five years.

Andreas Jung, Chairman of Advisory Council for sustainable development, who acted as Key Note Speaker at the general meeting on June 8, 2016 declared:

“The German government has set itself ambitious climate targets. Therefore, the transport sector has to make its own major contributions. In order to do so, we do need technologies that are environmentally friendly, economically viable, but also socially responsible. To promote renewable liquid fuels in the aviation sector, the way the initiative of aireg does, has to be seen as an important piece of the puzzle.”