Threatened by new limits on carbon emissions, two major firms in the aviation industry have turned to Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Government-owned clean technology firm, to help find a replacement for jet fuel made from saltwater plants.
Boeing, the US aerospace giant, and Honeywell UOP, a fuels producer, announced yesterday they had commissioned the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology to study the potential for producing commercial quantities of fuel from two types of plants that grow in saltwater.
The aviation industry hopes biofuels can provide a low-carbon alternative to petroleum, but biofuels producers have come under fire for displacing food production on arable land. Both algae and saltwater plants, known as halophytes, could be the answer, the industry hopes, since they do not need fresh water or valuable land. National
Halophytes can be highly productive sources of biomass energy, and can thrive in arid land and irrigated with sea water, making them suitable for biofuel development, experts from the institutes have said.
“Scientific and academic communities are stepping forward to look at the totality of each renewable fuel source that can help us reduce carbon emissions,” said Billy Glover, managing director of Environmental Strategy for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
“By looking at these species in a formal research framework, we will know if halophytes meet the carbon reduction and socio-economic criteria that will allow them to become part of sustainable biofuel solutions for aviation.” Rediff
The new project fits into a larger, multi-billion dollar effort by the Abu Dhabi government to develop alternative energy technologies and create a “carbon-neutral, zero-waste” city as a launchpad for cleantech development. With the number of commercial aircraft fleets expected to almost double to 32,000 by 2025, the carbon emissions due to air travel are set to jump to 3 percent of the world’s total emissions by 2050, up from from 2 percent today.
As Wired has noted, a study published in the journal Science late last year found “salt-loving crops could be used to produce 1.5 billion barrels of ethanol annually on a swath of new agricultural land almost five times the size of Texas.” So with regulations coming into place that will likely make those emissions increasingly expensive, growing the key ingredients for a lower-emission fuel could be very big business. Earth2Tech
The halophyte study will evaluate aquaculture management and practices, land use and energy requirements and identify any potential adverse ecological or social impacts associated with using halophytes for energy development, specifically for aviation biofuel development.
“We must continue to evolve biofuels to incorporate feedstocks that are not only sustainable, but actually regenerative and can restore the ecosystems where they are found,” said Jennifer Holmgren, general manager of UOP Renewable Energy & Chemicals. “Global Seawater Inc. has led the development of a promising solution, and we are excited to be working with this team to further develop and understand the potential impact of integrated seawater systems.”
A successful outcome of the study will give the Masdar Initiative an opportunity to expand its portfolio of renewable energy technologies into biofuels that are sustainable and can be grown locally, Dr. Sgouris Sgouridis of Masdar Institute said. The Masdar Initiative aims to create and sustain the world’s first carbon-neutral, zero-waste city, Masdar City, located on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi.
“Masdar City will have access to important production of locally grown food and thus reduce its dependence on carbon-intensive imports,” Sgouridis said. “In terms of the United Arab Emirates, it would provide an additional significant source of biofuels that would allow the UAE to transition into a less fossil fuel-dependent economy.” PR Newswire
