Alaska Airlines is signed up to become the first to use Gevo Inc.s alcohol-based jet fuel as soon as it completes testing and certification. The hope is to be able to reduce pollution, reduce swings in fuel price, and have a steady, domestic source of jet fuel.
Gevo has been walking its product through certification by manufacturers and the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) for six years, and expects to be approved by the middle of this year.
Alaska Airlines isn’t a stranger to this new world of biofuel; it’s made a strategic goal to use it regularly for flights at one or more hubs by 2020. In November 2011, Alaska flew more than 75 flights between Washington DC and the west coast using reprocessed cooking oil. More HERE from streetinsider.com
PS…Gevo’s stock jumped 70% on news of the deal with Alaska…Lab Photo: Gevo Inc.
Good point on the grain situation, and I agree. However, that’s not what’s involved here!
The ethanol we’re familiar with as a gasoline additive is a grain/corn-based product, and does indeed impact food prices—at home as well as in the developing countries. But the Gevo project is producing isobutanol, a different alcohol.
It is produced by cyanobacteria, not from grain. Genetic engineering of the bacteria has enabled it to produce the compound on a much greater scale, and on non-arable land. I won’t try to explain the fascinating science; instead a LINK to Wikipedia.
By the way, I used to work at Automotive High School here in Brooklyn, where students successfully modified a Mercedes-Benz diesel to run on oil from the school cafeteria fryers. It ws affectionately called “the grease car,” and when it was running with the shop doors open, and aroma of french fries went all the way down to my office…sometimes triggering an immediate need for a french fry fix…
I’ve always been skeptical of using alcohol based fuels simply because it takes grains out of the food chain and drives up the global price for things like corn. Those who suffer live in poor countries, and are those who can least afford it.
I do think it’s a great idea to use products like old cooking oil. Someone I know has converted a VW bug (diesel) to burn old cooking oil. He has worked out a deal with a local fast food place wherein he relieves them of their old cooking oil and he gets essentially free fuel. His car smells like french fries when it runs but that’s part of its charm.