It wasn’t supposed to happen so quickly.
But the development of aviation biofuels has occurred at a speed that has surprised everyone.
Just a few years ago, aviation biofuel looked to be decades away. But with outside pressure building on the aviation industry to reduce its carbon footprint, the Boeing Co. and others in the industry banded together to accelerate research, said Mary Armstrong, Boeing’s vice president of environment, health and safety.
“We can’t electrify an airplane the way we can a car,” she said.
That means the industry always will be dependent on some form of fuel — petroleum or plant-based. The aviation industry represents only about 2 percent of the world’s carbon emissions. Still, Armstrong said, the industry is stepping up to do its part.
A few additional factors have helped kick biofuels research into high gear, including the availability of petroleum-based fuel and its price, said Darrin Morgan, who directs Boeing’s biofuels strategy. And, of course, there’s the concern about climate change linked to carbon dioxide emissions.
Boeing officials have been clear: The company isn’t getting into the biofuels business. Instead, the company is doing what it can to support biofuels development and production.
Early on, the industry was concerned about whether biofuels would meet the technical requirements of jet fuel. That has been resolved, Morgan said.
“Biofuels are not only as good as petroleum-based jet fuel but are better,” he said.
And biofuels are about 80 percent cleaner in terms of carbon emissions than petroleum-based fuel.
The challenge now is finding affordable and available sources. The economic downturn over the past few years hasn’t helped matters. Companies don’t have the capital to invest in getting new biofuel production started.
“That’s why government support is needed now,” Morgan said.
The industry is working with second-generation biofuel sources: algae; camelina, a member of the mustard family; and jatropha, a non-edible plant that produces a high-oil-yielding nut. The sources don’t compete with the food supply like much of the first generation biofuels, such as corn.
“One of the issues around (biofuels) sustainability is water use,” Morgan said.
That’s why the industry also is looking at biofuels derived from halophytes, a saltwater plant.
Morgan doesn’t believe the industry will rely on just one type of biofuel. The industry believes it will gain regulatory authority to use biofuels in commercial flights by 2011. Several test flights using different forms of biofuels in various aircraft have been conducted already.
The challenge will be introducing aviation biofuels on a large scale. It likely could still take years before 50 percent of flights are powered by biofuel.
Still, Morgan says the toughest percent of biofuels being incorporated in commercial aviation will be the first percent.
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