by Amy Yee (The New York Times) The red-and-white Boeing 737 looked like any other plane on the tarmac at Orlando International Airport. But on a clear day last July, the plane became the first commercial flight powered by a new jet fuel made from sugar cane. The passenger flight, operated by the Brazilian low-fare airline GOL, flew from Florida to São Paulo, Brazil, on a 10 percent blend of a clear liquid called farnesane mixed with regular jet fuel.
This summer, farnesane became the third kind of renewable aviation fuel to earn approval from the standards agency ASTM International, in addition to the ones made from algae and oil seeds approved in recent years.
More commercial airlines are considering using farnesane on limited flights, said John Melo, chief executive of Amyris, the biotech firm based in California that developed farnesane in a joint venture with Total, the French energy giant.
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The global aviation industry has also set ambitious goals to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, including slashing emissions by 50 percent by 2050 compared with 2005. To achieve these targets, renewable fuels could be one part of the puzzle.
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However, there are significant hurdles to making bio-jet fuels mainstream, namely their high cost and barriers to mass production.
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Airlines like United, KLM and Alaska Airlines have flown planes powered by oil made from algae, used vegetable cooking oil and plants like camelina and jatropha. But in spite of initial excitement, commercial airlines have not widely adopted bio-jet fuels, mainly because of their high cost.
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According to rigorous testing by plane makers like Boeing, farnesane and other types of approved bio-jet fuel actually perform better than conventional jet fuel.
They also burn cleaner than conventional aviation fuel, said Julie Felgar, managing director of environmental strategy and integration for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Because of close scrutiny, bio-jet fuels have to “perform as well as or better than regular jet fuel,” she said.
This is a high bar because aviation fuel is more complex than fuel for cars and road vehicles. READ MORE
