Jet Fuel From Sugarcane: Air Travel Set To Become Greener With No Threat To Food Crops


Jet fuel could soon be much less polluting as researchers have managed to make it from sugarcane. Moreover, the new cleaner and eco-friendly fuel won’t compete with food crops.

More than eight million passengers travel by air every single day, and the number is set rise. Although a lot faster than any traditional mode of transport, airplanes are one of the biggest polluters. Roughly 2 percent of the entire global carbon emissions can be traced back to airplane operations. This means billions of tons of carbon is being spewed in the atmosphere when you are flying. Hence, scientists have been busy synthesizing alternative and hopefully much less polluting fuels in an attempt to make air travel a little greener form of transport.

A team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley in the U.S. made a remarkable breakthrough. They have managed to make jet fuel from sugarcane biomass and waste associated with the process of sugar extraction. The researchers are confident that jet fuel produced from this natural and sustainable source will significantly curtail greenhouse gas emissions by airplanes.

What’s equally exciting about the process is that sugarcane can be grown on marginal, low-yield land. This means producers won’t have to sacrifice their fertile land, which is reserved for food crops, shared co-author Alexis Bell.

“We’ve identified a new route of chemistry with its source from sugars in sugarcane plus some of the so-called waste material called bagasse. We show in this paper how we can put these components together to make jet diesel and lubricants.”

The process is fairly simple and eco-friendly as well. Researchers used hot water to extract sugar from the sugarcane. Thereafter, naturally obtained and renewable catalysts, magnesium oxide and niobium pentoxide in miniscule quantities, are used to transform the waste into fuel.

Organic jet fuel isn’t a new concept. Moreover, interest in greener fuel has diminished substantially, owing to justifiable concerns that the production of the fuel crops would increase strain on worldwide food production.

Additionally, jet fuel has quite a few strict specifications. So far, no one has been able to make jet fuel from renewable sources that met the strict regulations in terms of weight, density, lubricity, and performance at low temperatures. Airlines are quite insistent on these specifications to keep efficiency of the airplanes at optimum levels to keep running costs low and profits high.

The jet fuel from sugarcane meets all the specifications, stated Bell. Being produced from sugarcane addresses the second concern as well. Interestingly, the research has been sponsored by crude-oil giant BP, and the scientists have filed for patents.

[Image Credit | Justin Sullivan / Getty Images]

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