Algae biofuel is one of the most promising alternative fuels on the market – so far we’ve seen cars and even planes adapted to run on it. The main drawback thus far has been high production costs and energy usage – until now. Using a new “cost-effective harvesting method” featuring microbubbles, a team from the University of Sheffield believe they have found a way to make algae a more commercially viable fuel source.
Shipping giant Maersk has been making a number on interesting efficient improvements in its containers ships as of late, and now is testing algae-biofuels as well: Right now the Maersk Kalmar is en route from Northern Europe to India running a blend of algae-biofuel and petroleum-based fuel.
During the 30-day trip, over 6500 nautical miles, a variety of blend percentages will be tested, including testing how well the ship performs on 100% biofuel. Emissions of greenhouse gases as well as particulate pollution are being monitored along the route as part of the test as well.
The U.S. Navy’s Self Defense Test Ship has successfully arrived at its port, powered by an alternative fuel blend. Docking at Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme, it completed a 17 hour test voyage which ended at 10:37 a.m. this morning. The decommissioned Spruance-class Paul F. Foster destroyer was converted to run on 50% algae-derived fuel.
The Alaska Air Group is joining the commercial aviation biofuel movement.
The airline launched two flights yesterday running on a blend consisting of 20 percent biofuel and 80 percent petroleum-based fuel. The sustainable biofuel used for the blend was made from cooking oil.
One flight was via a Boeing 737-800 plane from Seattle to Washington, D.C., and the other a Bombardier Q400 plane headed from Seattle to Portland, Ore. Both planes were flown as part of a program to fly more than 75 flights on a cooking oil-based biofuel blend within the coming weeks on Alaska Air’s Alaskan Airlines and Horizon Air carriers.
The Navy has reached a milestone in the quest to gain energy independence with the first unmanned biofueled flight of an MQ-8B Fire Scout at Webster Field in St. Inigoes, Md. The unmanned helicopter was fueled with a combination of JP-5 aviation fuel and plant-based camelina.
The MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Take-Off and Landing Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle provides critical situational awareness, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), and targeting data to the forward deployed warfighter. Fire Scout is designed to operate from all air capable ships and is currently providing ISR support during its first-land based deployment in U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.
In a world pinched sharp by rising oil prices and concerns over the impact of emissions on the environment, even the military is chipping in doing its bit to keep the earth safe. They are planning to go green by switching to biofuels, a general term for all fuels derived from plants, biomass, waste oil and fats.
When we are talking about military vehicles it means it is about fuel guzzling beasts that are designed to conquer their elements be it land, air or sea. An absolute no compromise on power is the unwritten rule when it comes to military vehicles and these vehicles run, fly and sail just as well on biofuels. Here are five military vehicles that are powered by biofuels.
If this Brazilian feasibility analysis works out as planned, jet fuel might move over to the sweeter and greener side of the environmental ledger.
Two aircraft manufacturers – Boeing and Embraer S.A. – have joined with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in announcing they will jointly fund a sustainability analysis of renewable jet biofuel made Brazilian sugar cane.
Last month, IDB announced a regional cooperation grant to help public and private institutions develop a sustainable jet biofuels industry.
According to some reports, a major amount of greenhouse gases is produced by airplanes. Airports in Michigan are planning to help solve this problem by growing biofuel-producing plants on the airport’s land. These crops will generate biofuel for planes and will also cut their carbon footprint.
The Willow Run and Detroit Metro airports have already adopted the idea of growing crops, both having an area of 1,700 acres. According to Biodiesel Magazine, airport owner Wayne County in collaboration with Michigan State University plan to plant canola and mustard seeds and use them as biofuel sources. The project is expected to run through February 2012 and has been funded with a $476,000 state grant.
Today Finnair is set to break a world record as it launches a cooking oil-powered flight from Amsterdam to Helsinki – the world’s longest biofueled commercial flight to date. Commercial airlines have been jumping on board with biofuels lately – many have been making test flights in hopes of transitioning to alternative fuels in the near future.
Today’s flight is the first in a series of four tests flights that Finnair is conducting to test the efficiency of biofuel. Like other airlines, Finnair will be testing flights with a combination of biofuel and conventional jet fuel, which will be used to power both of the SkyNRG aircraft’s engines. The biofuel portion used for these flights is made from recycled cooking oil from restaurants.
New Hampshire, U.S.A. — Second generation aviation biofuels are getting ready for takeoff.When Boeing’s 747-8 freighter landed in Paris for an international air show in mid-June, it did so in style. The flight marked the first transatlantic voyage for a commercial jetliner using aviation biofuel — in this case a 15 percent blend from the camelina plant.
It wasn’t the only plane using less than traditional fuel to make a grand entrance at the show. The Honeywell-operated Gulfstream G450 became the first aircraft to fly from North America to Europe with a 50/50 blend of Honeywell Green Jet Fuel and petroleum-based jet fuel. It was also the first business jet to be powered by a biofuel.
While the high-profile landings will surely pique the interest of those new to the emerging possibilities of biofuels, the real ascent is expected to come later this year when the global standards body publishes its jet fuel specification, which could allow up to a 50 percent blend of biofuels.
After ASTM International releases its specifications, production is expected to ramp up significantly, and perhaps immediately. Boeing spokesman Terrance Scott said Monday that many airlines in the industry are working to set up agreements in preparation for the new standards.
While costs for the aviation biofuels remain higher than traditional kerosene fuel, industry experts expect prices to come down considerably with the shift from test batches to high-volume production.
Biofuels, especially second-generation methods that don’t cut into the food supply, are increasingly seen by the aviation industry as a way to offset the volatility of traditional fuel prices. The exploration in the industry has also been in response to increasing emission regulations and the potential for an aviation biofuel credit market in the European Union.
“As an industry, we have to find a way to eliminate the volatility,” said Scott. “We won’t predict when peak oil is going to happen, or whether it has already happened. But you need to get going on this.”
For it’s June 20 flight, Boeing does not need to make any changes to the airplane, its engines or operating procedures to accommodate the biofuel use. According to Honeywell, which manufactured the biofuel, no changes to airline fleets need to be made even with a 50 percent blend.
Biofuel industry
Aviation biofuels have been used in recent years in demonstration flights, both commercially and in partnership with the U.S. military.
Honeywell UOP has emerged as a leader in the production and manufacturing of aviation biofuels. Its bio jet fuel was developed under a grant from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, now the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency-Energy. The process converts feedstocks like camelina — algae is among other options — into jet fuel. The company says the fuel has shown to have higher energy density in flight, which will allow aircraft to fly farther on less fuel, and that it can offer a 65 to 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to petroleum-based fuels.
The biofuel for both flights was sourced from camelina grown in Montana and processed by Honeywell UOP. Plant-based biofuels like camelina provide a net reduction in carbon, meaning the CO2 it absorbs during growth is greater than what it emits when burned.
The plant was identified for its potential in aviation biofuel by Boeing and others in the Pacific Northwest as part of the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest project (www.safnw.com).
In an effort to create a regional supply chain, Boeing said it is guiding assessments in Australia/New Zealand, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates and China to identify potential fuel sources that don’t compete with food or fresh water resources or contribute to deforestation.
Paris Landings
Boeing’s 747-8 took off from Washington and landed at Le Bourget Airport at about 5 p.m. local time on June 20.
The airplane was on display at the Paris Air Show June 21 and 22. It left the air show on June 22 and fly to Cargolux headquarters at Luxembourg for a two-day visit.
Honeywell’s Gulfstream departed Morristown, N.J., at 9 p.m. on June 17 and arrived in Paris about seven hours after takeoff. The jet closely followed the route taken by Charles Lindbergh’s famous first flight across the Atlantic.
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