The New Nation - Internet Edition

Rony V. Diaz

Last week, Air New Zealand flew a 4-engine Boeing 747 with one engine running on a 50-percent jatropha mix.

The test was a success but obviously it's only the first of a series.

Japan Airlines announced that next month it would also test a biofuel mix on one of its planes.

Continental Airlines however took a chance with a 2-engine plane, a bolder challenge than with a 4-engine jetliner.

Continental also used a biofuel additive made from jatropha and algae oils. The 2-hour flight was also successful.

Since July last year, when the price of oil spiked to $140 per barrel, airlines have been looking for fuel alternatives.

Although the price of crude has gone down in recent days to about $40 per barrel, airline executives are still determined to make their operation less dependent on traditional jet fuel.

As John Hemlich, the chief economist of the Air Transport Association, told The New York Times last month: "It's hard to plan a business and buy expensive pieces of equipment that last for 20 to 30 years, when you have total uncertainty about the cost of your business expense."

There are three alternative sources that are being looked into: plants like algae or jatropha; coal; and natural gas.

The three major jet engine makers-Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce and General Electric-are involved in these tests. Their aim is to develop a fuel mix that could be certified by aviation authorities as a "drop-in replacement," meaning that it will not require any changes in the engine or modifications to other parts of the plane nor to existing storage and delivery facilities of jet fuel.

This is supported by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). It set a target of 10-percent alternative-fuel use by 2017.

The main uncertainty is price. Unless the biofuel market becomes large enough, the price of the substitutes will be determined by the value of the fuels that they replace. This means that biofuels have to become dominant as a transportation fuel for their price to become predictable.

So far, the volumes are small.

Brazil is marketing a light plane that flies on ethanol. But since this fuel is corrosive and exudes water, extensive modification on aircraft that are not purpose-built would be needed.

Jatropha has the biggest potential because it's being positioned as a biodiesel. Large areas in tropical countries have already been planted to this shrub whose fruit contains an oil-bearing seed.

But algae is the better fuel source. For one, it's carbon neutral as it actually devours carbon dioxide (CO2) to grow. For another, it does not displace agriculture because it can be grown in pools of water. But best of all, it's as energy-dense as kerosene, easy to transport, and relatively cheap. Experiments show that algae can be processed to become identical to gasoline.

A company in South Africa, Sasol, has been producing for years a semi-synthetic blend of petroleum and coal that can be used as a jet fuel. It has been approved by the Ministry of Defense of the UK for use by its military aircraft, thus clearing the way for civilian planes.

A company in Qatar, using a technology similar to Sasol's, is now making a jet fuel substitute from natural gas.

How do these substitutes stack up environmentally?

Jatropha has only half as much CO2 as fuel from petroleum. Fuel from algae has virtually none. Both can pass the environmental standards of the European Union for aviation fuel.

Synfuels from coal have very low sulfur but when their production is taken into account, they generate more CO2 than jet fuel made directly from petroleum.

Jet fuel from natural gas has relatively little carbon content but its still emits a fair amount of greenhouse gases.

When the climate change meeting takes place in Copenhagen this year to negotiate the successor treaty to the Kyoto protocol, it will also establish the standards for greenhouse gas emissions. It's very likely that plant-based transportation fuel will become the fuel of choice.

Jatropha and algae could therefore become the energy crops in the near future until hydrogen becomes feasible and affordable.

(Source: opinion@manilatimes.net)