Iberia Airlines together with AENA (Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea), have been at the forefront of developments in this field by funding a project which aims to produce significant amounts of biofuel from microalgae. This innovative process was developed by the company Alga Energy which uses microalgae that are cultivated at an experimentation technological plant installed next to the Madrid-Barajas Airport.
The centre cultivates microalgae, used to produce biomass from which biofuels are obtained as well as conducting research to improve technologies for capturing CO2.
The first samples of water from the La Muñoza Treatment Plant were taken in 2012 for subsequent use as feed for cultivating these organisms. Within Iberia, this project is coordinated by the Assets and Infrastructure Department.
The eventual goal of this collaboration is to promote the production of biofuels with a view to reducing CO2 emissions generated during operations of the Iberia fleet.