Wisely, airline industry continues move toward green jet fuel
I’ve always said that if we are to pursue a biofuels strategy, it should first and foremost focus on developing renewable fuels for airplanes. Using batteries or fuel cells to power a large passenger jet is a non-starter, given the added weight to the aircraft. We can electrify most ground transportation, but we can’t electrify airplanes, so biofuels is what we’re left with if we want to reduce the carbon footprint of the airline industry.
There’s no question that biofuels are controversial, particularly when we talk of growing corn and other food crops as a feedstock for producing ethanol and other green fuels. There’s much potential in second- and third-generation biofuels, using wood, agricultural, and municipal wastes and algae, but there’s considerable doubt that even these non-food feedstocks could allow us to make a meaningful dent in our fossil-fuel consumption. This is why targeting the airline industry makes sense. It only represents about 12 per cent of global petroleum consumption, so maybe we can serve this market with the non-food feedstocks we have.
Momentum in this area continues. Last week British Airways announced a partnership with U.S.-based Solena Group, which plans to build the first commercial plant in Europe dedicated to producing jet fuel from municipal solid waste — everything from food waste to grass cuttings. The waste will be turned into syngas using a plasma-arc process, and that gas will form the basic chemical building blocks for the green jet fuel.
Joshua Kagan over at Greentech Media has a good update on this trend.
Tags: British Airways, Solena
Tyler Hamilton is editor-in-chief of Corporate Knights magazine and a business columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the clean technology and green energy market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper.
February 21st, 2010 at 8:17 pm
and just why is electrifying planes a non-starter?
Electric motors would weigh less than jet turbines.
February 22nd, 2010 at 9:18 am
An interesting related story is that the US pentagon has found a way to create economical bio-fuel from photo-synethsizing algae. The bacteria only need brackish water and sunlight meaning it is a net carbon zero process apparently!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/13/algae-solve-pentagon-fuel-problem
February 22nd, 2010 at 9:21 am
Also, apparently it is economically competitive with petroleum
February 22nd, 2010 at 9:23 am
Joe, its not the motor, its the battery that is heavy.
Excellent points Tyler, I have always thought the same regarding biofuels and aviation.
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:23 am
In two words, Joe, energy density.
Right now I believe that liquid fuels hold an order of magnitude more energy than batteries of the same weight and size.
If they didn’t we would already have electric planes.
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:06 am
Sorry for the typo, I meant algae, not bacteria