When produced sustainable, aviation bio fuel emits 50 to 80 percent lower carbon emissions through its life cycle than petroleum jet fuel. Globally, more than 1,500 passenger flights using bio-fuel have been conducted since the fuel was approved for use in 2011.
Boeing, United Arab Emirates Partners Look to Harvest Bio-fuel from Desert Plants
Innovation will make bio-fuel production more efficient for aviation, vehicles - Pilot project will test desert plants grown with seawater, relevant to many dry regions
ABU DHABI, Jan. 22, 2014 – Boeing [NYSE:BA] and research partners in the United Arab Emirates have made breakthroughs in sustainable aviation bio-fuel development, finding that desert plants fed by seawater will produce bio-fuel more efficiently than other well-known feed stocks. The Sustainable Bio-energy Research Consortium (SBRC), affiliated with the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, will test these findings in a project that could support bio fuel crop production in arid countries, such as the U.A.E.
“Plants called halophytes show even more promise than we expected as a source of renewable fuel for jets and other vehicles,” said Dr. Alejandro Rios, Director of the SBRC. “The U.A.E. has become a leader in researching desert land and seawater to grow sustainable bio fuel feed stocks, which has potential applications in other parts of the world.”
Funded by Boeing, Etihad Airways and Honeywell UOP, the SRBC is dedicated to the development and commercialization of sustainable aviation bio fuel, which emits 50 to 80 percent less carbon through its life cycle compared to fossil fuel.
“Etihad Airways is very pleased with the research results of these saltwater-tolerant plants,” said Etihad Airways President and Chief Executive Officer James Hogan. “This is real progress in developing a truly sustainable aviation bio fuel from a renewable plant source, appropriate to our environment.”
Halophyte seeds contain oil suitable for bio fuel production. SBRC research found that the entire shrub like plant can be turned into bio fuel more effectively than many other feed stocks.
In the coming year, SBRC scientists will create a test ecosystem by planting two crops of halophytes in Abu Dhabi’s sandy soil. Waste seawater from a fish and shrimp farm will nourish halophytes that clean the water as they grow. The water will next flow into a field of mangroves before returning to the ocean. Both plants would be converted into aviation bio fuel using SBRC research findings.
“This project can have a global impact, since 97 percent of the earth’s water is ocean and 20 percent of the earth’s land is desert,” Dr. Rios said.
Source:Boeing
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