The aviation industry contributes a relatively small percentage of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions – less than 2%, in fact. But jet fuel represents a major expense for the industry that makes it vulnerable to price fluctuations and geopolitical forces.
So for both environmental and economic reasons, the aviation industry continues to be interested in renewable fuels made from bio oil. These fuels are called HEFA fuels (hydro processed esters and fatty acids) and they are already approved for up to 50% blends with conventional jet fuel.
The problem with HEFA fuels is that they are just too expensive. The process that creates them consists of upgrading virgin plant oils, high free fatty acid oils, and waste oils by a process called hydrotreating. That requires technology, capital expenditures, labor and, most of all, hydrogen.
A company called Emerging Fuels Technology has developed a process that combines the fuel industry’s conventional FT process with HEFA processing that can significantly lower the cost of converting bio oils into jet fuel. The process can make use of a variety of feedstocks. Canola oil is a good candidate but there are other possibilities among crops that can thrive in otherwise unused land and are not useful for food.
Last December, Europe’s Airbus Group signed a memorandum of understanding with Emerging Fuels to promote the development and use of sustainable aviation fuels. If such fuels become widely adopted in the industry, it would lower their greenhouse gas emissions and make airfares less susceptible to the roller coaster price of oil.
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A New Path to Affordable Jet Fuel?
Photo, posted January 20, 2011, courtesy of Moto “Club4AG” Miwa via Flickr.
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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.