The first flight by an aircraft in which all of its engines were powered by a mix of biofuel and conventional jet fuel has been completed by the U.S. Air Force.
The U.S. Air Force A-10C Thunderbolt II took a 90-minute flight in which its engines were filled with a 50-50 blend of conventional fuel and camelina-based jet fuel.
Camelina is the biofuel feedstock of choice for the U.S. military. It was chosen for research and development because it does not compete with food crops, and has also been proven to reduce carbon emissions by 80%. Furthermore, the crop can be grown domestically, is drought tolerant, can be grown on marginal land, is a superb rotation crop for wheat, and it requires less fertilizer and herbicides than other biofuel feedstocks.
In October 2009 Sustainable Oils won the contract to provide the U.S. Air Force with its camelina jet fuel. Sustainable Oils, which has the largest camelina program in the U.S., is contracted to supply 100,000 gallons of fuel to the Air Force between 2009 and 2010. The Air Force also has an option to purchase another 100,000 gallons between 2010 and 1012.
I wonder how bio-jet fuel from camelina is any different from biodiesel from camelina? I hope someone will educate me on this point. Perhaps a different process?
Logo from THIS story
Conway - Coastal BioDiesel Group has partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of the Grand Strand and will allocate specified portions of revenue generated to the non-profit organization.
The services provided under this venture include the collection and recycling of waste fry oil, kitchen equipment and facilities maintenance. Participating Coastal BioDiesel Group customers will receive regular accounting of the donation amounts for tax purposes, as well as recognition as supporters of the Boys & Girls Club of the Grand Strand.
Coastal BioDiesel Group is a Conway-based company "that has the unique ability to collect and convert 100% of all used fryer oil and grease trap waste into alternative fuels," said Mark Randolph, Area Sales Manager for Coastal BioDiesel Group. "Our efforts to recycle today impact tomorrow and the future of our children. We believe in our partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of the Grand Strand and we hope to express to the community the importance of energy preservation."
Toyota invests in bio-diesel made from jatropha curcas. Photo from http://www.tundraheadquarters.com/blog/2009/06/19/toyota-bio-diesel-investment-philippines/
DETROIT, March 30 /PRNewswire/ -- General Motors Co. (GM) today announced a five-year partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to help develop the potential of the jatropha plant as a sustainable biofuel energy crop. Traditionally considered a weed, jatropha plants produce an oil that can be refined into biodiesel.
The goal of the project is to demonstrate that jatropha can produce significant quantities of oil for conversion to biodiesel and to develop new varieties of the plant that have high yields, can withstand frost, and grow in temperate climates such as the United States. The drought-resistant, non-edible plant can be grown commercially with minimal care on marginal land.
"Discovering new sources for biodiesel production is an important part of DOE research and development efforts," said Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. "The expertise of this team can help speed the pace for the development of jatropha as a biofuel crop."
Two jatropha farms will be established in India: a 16-hectare (39.5 acre) plot in Bhavngar and a 38 hectare (93.9 acre) plot in Kalol, near GM's India Car Manufacturing plant. An existing 30 hectare (74.1 acre) jatropha farm in Bhavnagar also will be managed under this project.
Photo from: http://www.mosoy.org/bio/facts.asp
Oil refiners are going to court to stop part of the biodiesel usage mandate approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. The companies say they don’t think they should be required the biodiesel that was mandated for 2009 since the EPA didn’t get around to finishing rules for the program until this year.
The EPA combined last year’s mandate and this year’s to require refiners to use 1.15 billion gallons of biodiesel by the end of 2010. Last year’s usage of biodiesel will count toward that combined mandate, but the industry still may have to produce as much as 750 million gallons this year to meet the target, according to one economist.
Charles Drevna, president of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, said his companies aren’t questioning the broader renewable fuels program or the “important role renewable fuels play” but rather the “retroactive application of certain provisions” of the law on biodiesel. The EPA should have put the mandate into place sooner. The agency proposed rules for the program in May 2009 but ran into strong criticism from lawmakers because soy biodiesel wouldn’t have qualified toward meeting the mandate.
We need to see how the petroleum industry wants to either own or destroy biodiesel, they are just not quite sure which way to go yet.