Sustainable Engineering: Air Carriers Try to Make Biofuels Fly

Nov. 7, 2008
Plane maker Boeing and a group of air carriers are trying to accelerate the development and commercialization of new sustainable aviation fuels.

Edited by Leland Teschler

The firms have formed the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group to devise sustainability practices for the airplanefuel supply chain.

Airlines supporting the sustainable fuels initiative include Air France, Air New Zealand, ANA (All Nippon Airways), Cargolux, Gulf Air, Japan Airlines, KLM, SAS, and Virgin Atlantic Airways. Collectively, they account for about 15% of commercial-jet fuel use. The group’s first priority will be to complete thorough assessments of sustainable plant sources, harvesting and economic impacts, and processing technologies.

The group has announced two initial sustainability research projects. Researchers at Yale University’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies will conduct the first peer-reviewed, comprehensive sustainability assessment of jatropha curcas, a poisonous shrub whose seeds consist of 30% oil that can be processed to produce a high-quality biodiesel fuel. Similarly, the group will study algae as a fuel source to ensure it meets stringent sustainability criteria.

Also taking part in the work is UOP LLC, a Honeywell Corp. company that develops advanced fuel processing methodologies.

Sponsored Recommendations

Drive systems for urban air mobility

March 18, 2025
The shift of some of our transport traffic from the road to the air through urban air mobility is one of the most exciting future fields in the aerospace industry.

Blazing the trail for flying robots

March 18, 2025
Eight Bachelor students built a flying manipulator that can hover in any orientation and grasp objects. The drone is even more maneuverable than a quadrocopter and was designed...

Reachy 2: The Open-Source Humanoid Robot Redefining Human-Machine Interaction

March 18, 2025
Reachy 2 was designed to adapt to a wide variety of uses thanks to its modular architecture.

maxon IDX: The plug-and-play solution

March 18, 2025
IDX drives combine power with small space requirements - a brushless BLDC motor combined with an EPOS4 positioning controller and a gearhead inside a high-quality industrial housing...

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Machine Design, create an account today!