Boeing Co. (BA), in cooperation with Air China Ltd. (AIRYY, 0753.HK) and others, plans to test a commercial-jet biofuel in China produced from a locally grown plant by the middle of 2011-part of an effort to commercialize cleaner fuels world-wide and bolster China's potential as a biofuel provider.
Boeing Co. (BA), in cooperation with Air China Ltd. (AIRYY, 0753.HK) and
others, plans to test a commercial-jet biofuel in China produced from a locally
grown plant by the middle of 2011-part of an effort to commercialize cleaner
fuels world-wide and bolster China's potential as a biofuel provider.
Boeing first tested a biofuel on a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 jet in early 2008
in
London
. It
has since conducted similar tests a few more times, each time experimenting
with different types of biofuels on different engines. The China demonstration
flight, expected to be conducted by May or June next year, would be Boeing's
sixth such demonstration flight using a biofuel, said a Boeing executive, Al
Bryant, in an interview Monday with The Wall Street Journal.
(This story and related background material will be available on The Wall
Street Journal Web site, WSJ.com.)
The biofuel to be used in the scheduled test flight is one based on jatropha, a
thorny wild green shrub that grows well on a wide range of terrains in hot
climates such as
Latin America
and
Africa
. It
is expected to be supplied by Chinese oil company PetroChina Co. (PTR,
0857.HK), which grows jatropha in southern
China
for
aviation use, said Bryant, vice president of research and technology at
Boeing's
China
operations.
"It's harvested here and processed here, and we test it with an airplane
operated by a Chinese airline and is going to be flown here in
China
,"
the executive said. "This flight is going to demonstrate that
China
has
the ability to create a new biofuel industry here in
China
."
Analysts say development of biofuels based on feedstocks such as jatropha looks
promising, but commercial mass production, as well as getting regulatory approvals
for the new jet fuel, still will likely take several years, if not more. Boeing
argues the prohibitively expensive cost will come down.
Some pessimists also had pointed out that biofuel would freeze before a
jetliner reached cruising altitude, or that it would require punishingly costly
modifications to the aircraft engines to make it work.
Boeing says its two years of demonstration flights counter those claims. By
injecting similar additives used in petroleum-based fuel, the freezing point of
biofuels has been rendered a nonissue, and engine modifications have proven
unnecessary, Boeing says.
"We're focused on plant-based sustainable 'drop-in' biofuels so that you
can fly to Chengdu, fill up with a biofuel, and fly to Australia somewhere and
fill up with a petroleum-based fuel, and you don't have to clean the tank or
drain it or anything," Bryant said, referring to a major city in southwest
China. "No modifications to the airplane engines would be necessary. It is
a drop-in solution."
Moreover, with fears that the days of petroleum are numbered, the global
aviation industry is more inclined to pursue long-term diversification of its
raw materials. Breakthroughs have also come more quickly than people
anticipated.
"If we can do that [commercialize biofuels for aviation], that gives our
customers an alternative supply of fuel, and hopefully we could smooth out some
of the spikes in jet fuel prices and allow airline operators to be more
financially stable," Bryant said.
Boeing envisions a future, he said, where the entire global aviation industry
would be supplied with plant-based biofuels that don't compete with food for
land and water, so that a rapid adoption of biofuels by the aviation industry
doesn't drive up food prices. That future could come as early as 2025, Bryant
said.
To realize that vision, Bryant said the industry needs to make a lot of
technological breakthroughs. But one secret weapon, he said, is biofuels based
on algae, which have higher levels of energy density. Boeing is conducting some
of its research-and-development efforts in
China
in
part because the country, Bryant said, has done some "leading-edge"
research in the field.
To accelerate the research and development of such algae-based aviation
biofuels, Boeing earlier this year opened a joint research laboratory in
Qingdao
with
a Chinese government research institute and is looking at expanding the effort
to other labs.
"You can serve the entire aviation industry's fuel needs by planting
soybeans in an area the size of continental
Europe
. Or
you could plant algae and get the same impact in an area the size of the
country of
Belgium
,"
Bryant said.
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