Alternative Fuels for Jet Engines

Apparently, it’s getting easier to be green — Kermit the Frog’s lament notwithstanding.

Whether or not you agree that the world has passed the point where there’s less crude oil in the ground than we’ve extracted — i.e., so-called “peak oil” — or that global warming accelerated by the burning of fossil fuels over the last 150 years is a fact, the “green revolution” has begun. Skeptics may abound, but when the petroleum industry itself begins talking about the need to develop alternative fuels to get us through the 21st century and lower carbon emissions, you have to take notice.


…At this year’s Paris Air Show, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey described two studies then under way and intended to develop “a national roadmap on the viability of alternative fuels for aviation.” Commissioned under the auspices of the FAA’s Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI) and scheduled for completion this month, the studies address feasibility, costs, technical issues and environmental impact of alternative fuels.

Also at the same venue, Blakey and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne jointly announced a plan whereby the service would power all its aircraft with a 50/50 mix of petroleum-derived JP-8 and F-T synfuel as early as 2010. The concoction will be tested in the Air Force’s C-17 tactical transports and data derived from the trials shared with the FAA for eventual transfer to the nation’s airlines, if deemed successful. (The C-17 is powered by a military derivative of the Pratt & Whitney PW2000, a commercial turbofan, making it an ideal test bed for the program.) The obvious benefit of a JP/synfuel blend would be to stretch, or dilute, available supplies of petroleum-based Jet-A.

Aviation Week