Algae - the new jet fuel

With U.S airlines projected to spend up to $19 billion more on fuel this year, $50-60 billion instead of the $41.6 billion they spent in 2007, alternative energy becomes an attractive alternative. The Air Transport Association and its member airlines are for example looking at coal-to-liquid, biofuels and biomass conversions. 

They are not alone.  Earlier this year British Virgin Atlantic made the world’s first bio-fuel demonstration flight, flying one of the engines of a Boeing 747on a mixture of babassu – and coconut oil – products that can be found in everyday cosmetic products such as lip balm and shaving cream.

But although the flight between London and Amsterdam was a success, its developers, Seattle based Imperium Renewables, points out that it is unlikely the fuel can substitute the 87 billion gallons of fuel needed to fly the world’s airline fleet. They now look to algae as the fuel of the future.

“This is just a first generation product” says John Plaza, president and chief executive of Imperium Renewables, “but the test was meaningful in that it showed that a biofuel was viable in the infrastructure in a commercial jet”.