What Is Jatropha Biofuel?

On June 8, 2010, the pure biofuel New Generation Diamond DA42 aircraft made its maiden voyage in Berlin. This is a remarkable flight because the aircraft burned not aviation kerosene, but biofuel made from seaweed. In 2010, Air China will join hands with Boeing to conduct test flights. According to the IATA roadmap, the proportion of biofuels in aviation fuel will reach 15% in 10 years.

Fuel tree

Fuel tree adapts biofuels to aircraft

The performance of the diamond DA42 in the test flight made its owner, the parent company of the European Aerospace Defense Group, Airbus, and even the entire aviation community overjoyed. Algae biofuels have also achieved excellent results in flight: they burn more fully, saving about 5% -10% of fuel.

Kursell Gregor, a spokesman for the European Aerospace Defense Group, told Southern Metropolis Weekly that the exhaust emission test data showed that nitrogen oxides emitted by seaweed fuel were 40% less than traditional aviation kerosene and 87.5 fewer hydrocarbons. %, The resulting sulfide is even lower, and its concentration is only one-sixth of that of traditional fuels. In addition to the European Aerospace Defense Group, Boeing is also a pioneer of biofuel aircraft. Boeing Vice President of China s Public Affairs Wang Yukui revealed to reporters that between February 2008 and January 2009, Boeing conducted four test flights of mixed biofuels and biofuels. All the indicators exceeded their expectations, they have lower freezing point, higher thermal stability and higher energy. What's more, the second-generation biofuels represented by seaweed are very compatible with existing aircraft. As a "universal" fuel, it can not only mix with traditional aviation kerosene, but also completely replace traditional aviation kerosene, and directly provide energy to aircraft.

In fact, the diamond DA42 is not a model specifically designed for the use of biofuels, but a well-known model produced by the Austrian Diamond Aircraft Company. Prior to this test flight, the European Aerospace Defense Group only slightly modified its engine. "The only thing we have to do is to make the nozzles of aircraft engines smaller, because biofuels burn more fully than conventional fuels, which can cause the combustion chamber to overheat," said Kurseli Gregorsh. When Continental Airlines' Boeing 737 used a mixed biofuel for test flights in 1949, it used almost no changes to the aircraft and its engines. At that time, 50% of the fuel was composed of seaweed oil and jatropha oil, and the other 50% was traditional aviation kerosene. After completing the test flight mission, the passenger plane resumed daily passenger flight the next day. Continental's subsequent engine analysis also revealed that biofuels have no fundamentally different effects on engines and aircraft compared to traditional aviation kerosene.

Paul Nash, the head of the Airbus New Energy Department, told reporters that a series of studies and flight tests have shown that the second-generation biofuels represented by seaweed can be used directly on active aircraft without having to redesign the engine and Aircraft and airports do not need to build new fuel delivery systems. "We should look for and develop biofuels that are suitable for existing aircraft, rather than transforming aircraft to accommodate new biofuels," said Paul Nash.

Fuel tree gets rid of oil dependence

The two major aircraft manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, have conducted five test flights with hybrid biofuel aircraft in conjunction with British Virgin Atlantic, Continental Airlines, and New Zealand Airlines. The aviation industry as a whole has never been in such an urgent need to find alternatives to traditional aviation kerosene to get rid of its complete dependence on oil.

Data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) show that for every $ 1 increase in crude oil prices, the cost of the global air transport industry, which uses aviation kerosene as the main fuel, will increase by $ 1.6 billion.

Global actions to control greenhouse gases have cast a shadow over the future of the aviation industry. From 2012, the total greenhouse gas emissions of flights landing in the EU region will be limited to 97% of the average level from 2004 to 2006, and to 95% in 2013. Once it is exceeded, "buy carbon money" will be left behind. It is estimated that airlines may pay up to billions of dollars for this.

Under the dual pressure of cost and environment, the aviation industry has set its sights on biofuels. Compared to increasingly depleted fossil fuels, biofuels are renewable energy and can be described as endless. Moreover, it can reduce carbon emissions by 60% to 80%.

Fuel Tree Status

Although the near-perfect second-generation biofuel looks very attractive, it will eventually enter commercial production and it will take a long process to replace some petroleum fuels as a source of aviation fuel.

The second generation of aviation biofuels is still in the laboratory stage. Before large-scale commercial use, first of all, test flight and safety assessment are required. At present, the test flight of various airlines is progressing smoothly. Air China will cooperate with Boeing to conduct test flights of biofuel aircraft.

However, the safety assessment has not yet been completed. Safety is always the most important issue in the aviation industry. IATA is cooperating with relevant inspection agencies, and it is expected that tests in this area can be completed as soon as 2011.

IATA's plan is that after completing the safety test in 2011, biofuels will be officially used in the air transport industry in 2012, with the amount not exceeding 1% of the total fuel.

"The second generation of biofuels is completely achievable from the current production technology, but due to the high cost of production, conditions for commercial production are still lacking. How long to leave the laboratory is a very difficult question," China Qiu Huanguang, an associate researcher at the Agricultural Policy Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said.

Lu Xuefeng believes that "it is not difficult to get through the technical route, whether it can compete with petrochemical fuels, and whether it can be produced and supplied on a large scale. How long can it be commercialized depends on the core bottlenecks, that is, the cost and scale. The current situation is speculated at least 10 years later. "

Giovanni Bisignani, chairman of the International Air Transport Association, is confident in the development of second-generation biofuels. According to the IATA roadmap, the proportion of biofuels in aviation fuel will reach 15% in 2020, 30% in 2030, and 50% in 2040.

^[2] Important news for practical applications:

Aifei.com October 28, 2011 news: An Air China Boeing 747 aircraft performed a biofuel verification flight at 8:33 am on October 28. The flight departed at 8:30 and landed at 9:30. At 8:15, the biofuel verification flight test plane was launched for parking. The plane took off smoothly at 8:35. After taking off, landing, and climbing at a large angle in the air, the Air China 747 successfully completed the test flight.

The test flight used a 50:50 ratio of green aviation fuel with aviation fuel produced from petroleum, with a maximum flight altitude of 11 kilometers. The captain reported that everything was normal during the flight, and the flight status was as normal as normal fuel. The biofuel used in the test flight came from the Jatropha raw material base planted in southwest China. The raw material base is the base of PetroChina. The jatropha tree is also called the small tung tree. Of the four 747 test flights, one of them used biofuel, and the other three still used normal jet fuel. Biofuel engines are treated in isolation.