Alaska Air plans to launch a
demonstration flight using the clean-burning ‘alcohol to jet’ fuel – made by Gevo,
a renewable biofuel company, which is made from by converting corn and other plant
waste into isobutanol. Isobutanol is then processed into jet
fuel, which can be a clean replacement for petroleum-based fuels.
The test flight will happen providing Alaska
Air receives approval from the American Society for Testing and Materials, ASTM
International, sometime near the end of the year. Gevo has been doing research based on the guidelines
set out by ASTM International for more than six years, they
looking for a final approval in order that the fuel be
available for standard use on any commercial aircraft.
Alaska Air has been proactively
searching for alternative fuels in order to achieve its target to use
sustainable biofuel in at least one of the airports by 2020. The company was the first airline in the US
to have flown multiple commercial passenger flights using biofuel created from
used cooking oil.This is interesting news, maybe more research with sugar cane might yield more places for the use of alcohol to fuel the aviation fleets. Any renewable fuel is a positive move to power our world instead of a quickly disappearing petroleum fuels. ;o)
