Biofuel-powered jet engine

JAL successfully tested a biofuel-powered jet engine yesterday:

One of the jumbo jet’s four Pratt & Whitney engines was run on a half-and-half mixture of biofuel and conventional jet fuel.

Boeing Co. developed the biofuel to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in flights. It derives mainly from camelina, a plant in the mustard family.

Camelina is inedible, making it less likely that its application to jet fuel will affect the world food market.

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13 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - January 31, 2009 at 10:43 am

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http://www.hormel.com Vonskippy

And how many Hectares to fuel one plane?

BioFuel is the BIGGEST fantasy ever – the world uses MILLIONS of barrels of oil EVERY day.

There is not enough land on the planet to grow even a teeny tiny portion of that quantity in biofuels.

Eddie

Exactly.

BioFuel is a no go.

John

No to food for fuel!

The plant may be inedible but if it competes against edible plants for land then it will have an impact on the food market.

http://www.zdwonline.de Haf

Exactly what I was thinking.

I think globally this is the third or fourth test for biofuel mad from plants or algae done on bigger airplanes.

Maybe this kind of fuel can balance things out a bit in the near future but I think in the long run electric engines are the best option.

To be able to use them in a good way, much better batteries and capacitors are needed, as well as better performing photovoltaic materials and alternative sources of energy that take advantage of the energy in wind, water and the earth’s core.
That what the nations should invest in now, instead of pumping the money in failing banks, old technology and broken investments.

Jerry

Lightning-powered aircraft?

Briton

air new zealand did this months ago.
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Level3

The real question is, how much energy was used to make the biofuel?

Perhaps when they get the means to make fuel out of the wasted portions of edible/usable plants that are just going to be thrown out anyhow, AND some kind of genetically engineered bacteria that turns corn husks into oil…

But isn’t this still producing just as much, if not more, CO2, which the greens claim is the “real” culprit?

But then, anything that stops money flowing into the coffers of the oil producers who are not our friends (Islamic states, Venezuela, Russia) is a good thing.

The Overthinker

The idea about biofuel is that the carbon dioxide that is released through combustion is the same amount of carbon dioxide that was taken in by the plant as it grew.

yoga boy

Camelina may be inedible but the more resources (arable land, farming equipment, fertilizer) they devote to harvesting this the less there will be for growing actual food for human consumption.

So once again, we are back to fuel > food.
Bryce

Air New Zealand isn’t the only kiwi company doing this sort of thing. There seems to be a partial solution to the biofuel dilemma there too = harvesting biofuels from plants grown on human shit, not arable land.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10381404

Apparently this company is going to start pumping out a million litres of fuel per year by April harvested from a small south island sewerage plant by the end of this year. With the amount of sewerage in the world imagine how much fuel that would make.

Biofuel-powered jet engine

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