February 17, 2010 – British Airways has just inked a deal with Solena Group, a U.S. based biofuel manufacturer, to source a portion of its jet fuel made from municipal waste in the U.K. The London-based manufacturing plant will be built by Solena, and is expected to be fully operational by 2014.

Solena estimates that the plant will convert 500,000 tons of waste into 16 million gallons of jet fuel annually. Reuters reports that 16 million gallons is the equivalent of 2% of the company’s usage at London’s Heathrow Airport, and that BA hopes to source 10% of its total fuel usage from waste-to-energy processes by 2050.

The process design is thought to be environmentally beneficial in two ways. Firstly, organic municipal waste stored in dumps breaks down and produces large quantities of methane, a greenhouse gas. The Solena plant will divert this waste from the landfill and convert it into biofuels.  Secondly, replacing traditional jet fuel with biofuels reduces the amount of greenhouse gases and particulates emitted into the atmosphere, reducing the environmental footprint of the airline. London is a prime location for the plant - BA estimates that each year 3 million tons of organic waste is produced in the city.