More Snow Melt

Prompt #11: January 2, 2010

My response to the eleventh prompt in the Frontliners 12 Day of blogging contest, which is to BLOG about fuel use for jets aka air traffic.

Growing Veggies to Fuel Jets

According to http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/06/17/veggie-power-plant-based-je... Boeing, in 2008 and 2009, tested jet fuel containing a blend of 50 percent biofuel in Japan Airlines, Air New Zealand, and Continental Airline. The seeds used to create this biofuel came from jatropha plants, camelina plants, and algae. Boeing used “drop-in” biofuels so the jet engines didn’t need modification. The biofuels didn’t harm the engines and produced greater amounts of energy then petroleum-based fuels.

The freezing point of these biofuels was “between -56 and -63 centigrade” which is colder then that of ordinary jet fuels. The biggest issue, besides the high cost of producing biofuels, is the area required for raising the plants. Grow enough jatropha and camelina plants to satisfy present needs require an area the size of Germany.

I like the idea of using plants to produce jet fuel. Using this type of fuel would change the power base of the present world economy. Can you imagine the power something like this would give to both family farmers and corporate farmers?