A Search for More Effective Biofuels for Commercial AirplanesJanuary 20, 2012

 

Lufthansa has flown more than 800 flights on an Airbus A321 between Hamburg and Frankfurt using a special biofuel mix in one of the two engines to see if it can tap a more cost-effective biofuel blend, according The New York Times.

While the industry has talked about the biofuel’s environmental benefits, the renewable source is nearly double the price of petroleum fuel, according to the report. Biologists and other entrepreneurs are trying to find new ways of exploiting biofuels that could yield a far cheaper renewable energy source.

One such source is the Jatropha plant — a tropical plant that produces an oil-rich nut. The biofuel produced from Jatropha still costs two and a half times more than petroleum-based fuels, according to the blog post. The higher price arises from having to grow, harvest and deliver the plant to specialized refineries. Entrepreneurs are racing to find ways of growing a Jatropha nut with a higher oil yield than the existing variety. The good news is that the current crop already has higher yields than earlier versions of the Jatropha plant.

Most biofuels have a lower energy content than ordinary jet fuel, according to the blog post, and thus must be blended with other fuels. One of the attractive features of Jatropha is that it's considered a “drop-in” substitute and works in all current engine systems without requiring adjustments.

Lufthansa noted that it cut its carbon dioxide emissions by about 60%, gallon for gallon, using this biofuel, according to the Times post. The company spent about $8.4 million in six months on this test. The European Union paid for about a third of the expense, the report noted.

Bill Glover, Boeing's vice president for environment in the commercial airplane sector, said that the company is looking to reduce greenhouse emissions by 2020 by using biofuels. This would allow the air travel industry to continue growing even as it tries to achieve a 50% reduction in emissions by 2050, according to the blog post.