Boeing exec: Plant-derived fuels could be certified for flights within a year

Jet fuels derived from algae, camelina and jatropha — plants that pack an energy punch, are not eaten as food and do not displace food crops — could be approved and replacing petroleum fuels in commercial flights as early as next year, a Boeing executive said yesterday.

Bill Glover, managing director of environmental strategy for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, which is leading an effort to develop, test and certify alternative jet fuels, said the technology is ready. Now, it is just a matter of growing enough non-food feedstock plants and refining enough of their oil.

In the past year and a half, commercial airlines have flown four successful test flights using a variety of biofuel-jet fuel blends. Boeing was involved in all four flights, including a Virgin Atlantic flight using a coconut- and babassu-derived biofuel blend; an Air New Zealand flight using a jatropha-derived biofuel blend; a Continental Airlines flight using a blend of algae- and jatropha-derived biofuel; and a Japan Airlines flight using an algae-, jatropha- and camelina-derived biofuel blend.

“We’ve proven the technical capability of biofuel as a drop-in replacement,” Glover said. “It meets all jet fuel requirements and then some.”

Not only has the industry proved the technical capability, but it also has shown that biofuels can improve overall fuel efficiency.

New York Times