CAAFI is confident that environmentally friendly alternative jet fuel derived from several feedstocks will be available in the next two to five years.
Both United Airlines and Alaska Airlines are now using biofuels, a blend of aviation fuel that has the potential to decrease imports of oil. U.S. commercial aviation consumes about 3% of U.S. total energy use. Aviation is also responsible for about 6% of the U.S. gross domestic product and just under 9% of national employment.
United led the way when it flew the first commercial domestic flight from Houston to Chicago yesterday using a blend of jet fuel with a 40% biofuel mix created from algae by Solazyme, a San Francisco based company. United said it will purchase 20 million gallons of bio-fuel per year as it explores the use of the fuel.
Alaska Air has two flights scheduled tomorrow that will use a different biofuel blend made from 20% cooking oil made by Dynamic Fuels, a joint venture of Tyson Foods and Syntroleum (sic) Corporation. Starting Thursday, Alaska Airlines will operate 75 regularly schedule flights, using renewable bio-fuels.
The use of aviation biofuels looks promising since it was pushed forward by the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI) established by the Federal Aviation Administration, which has been working to find sustainable fuels for airlines since 2006. As always the issues remain cost – roughly 5 times aviation fuel – and potential negative effects on global food supply.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
