Amyris Inc. and Total announced June 20 a successful demonstration flight at the Paris Air Show using a breakthrough technology that converts plant sugars into renewable jet fuel.

The Airbus A321 aircraft powered by two Snecma CFM56 jet engines flew from Toulouse to Paris with a blend of renewable jet fuel produced by Amyris and Total. This demonstration flight was in support of the French Initiative for Future Aviation Fuels, which seeks to produce and commercialize alternative, renewable and sustainable aviation fuels in France in the coming years. This was the second public demonstration flight with the Amyris-Total renewable jet fuel. In June 2012, an Embraer E195 jet flew with the renewable jet fuel produced from sugarcane in Brazil.

“This is a significant milestone in our strategic partnership with Total for biofuels,” said John Melo, President & CEO of Amyris. “From developing the world's leading synthetic biology platform to producing and distributing renewable products globally, the Amyris-Total collaboration demonstrates the power of partnerships to drive innovation and deliver sustainable products. Today's flight is another step closer in achieving ASTM certification, which paves the way for the commercialization of our renewable jet fuel.”

“The air transport sector has an ambitious target: drastically reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 while commercial flights and demand for jet fuel will steadily grow,” said Philippe Boisseau, president, marketing and services and new energies, and a member of the executive committee of Total. “To that end, biofuels will play an important role along with improved aircraft energy efficiency. This demonstration flight illustrates the capacity of Amyris and Total to integrate, as of today, aeronautical biofuels in a concrete and reliable way. As one of the world's biggest suppliers of aviation fuel, Total aims at widely offering this solution to airline customers. We are confident that we will be able to achieve this within the coming years.”

About the renewable jet fuel

 The Amyris-Total renewable fuel was produced using engineered microorganisms that convert plant sugars into Biofene, Amyris's brand of renewable farnesene, a long-chain, branched hydrocarbon. Last December, Amyris began commercial production of Biofene at its industrial-scale production facility in southeastern Brazil. Amyris uses Brazilian sugarcane due to its availability, competitive cost, and the local industry's ability to meet international sustainability standards.

In addition to supporting the aviation industry's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the Amyris-Total renewable jet fuel is designed to be compliant with Jet A/A-1 fuel specifications and outperform conventional petroleum-derived fuel in a range of performance metrics, including fit for purpose and greenhouse gas emission reduction, while maintaining performance quality. Amyris and Total expect the fuel to be commercially available as early as 2014, following approval by the ASTM International, the world's leading fuel standard setting body.