Argentina's air force tests and develops "bio-jetfuel"
Not long ago, we reported about progress made in the development of biofuels for airplanes, the last great green fuel challenge, and today, Argentina's Air Force not only announced its plan to develop "biokerosene", but actually demonstrated its use.
The plan foresees a "bio-jetfuel" containing 80% "Jet A1", a special kind of kerosene, and 20% biodiesel obtained from soy or rapeseed. A first actual demonstration of a military aircraft - a C-130 Hercules - using the new fuel was given today at a military base near Buenos Aires.
The test showed that the turbines of the Hercules operated equally well with the new "bio-jetfuel" as with "JP1", the fuel it normally uses and which also powers civilian airplanes.
Eduardo Selles, chief engineer of the Departamento de Innovación Tecnológica de la Fuerza Aérea Argentina: "Argentina is pioneering the development of this biofuel and so far we are the only air force to have ever used this mix of biodiesel and JetA1." Selles adds that the biofuel delivers the same power to the turbines as the traditional fuel and that it requires no modifications of the aircraft engines.
Today's test was a ground test but the Argentinian airforce, together with its technical partners of the Universidad Tecnológica Nacional and the Universidad Nacional de Formosa, plans a full flight with the new fuel early next year.
As we reported earlier, in april of this year, Argentina implemented its 'Ley de Biocombustibles' which aims at a production of 800,000 tons of biofuels per year by the year 2010.
More information:
ethanol :: biodiesel :: biobutanol :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: biojetfuel ::
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The plan foresees a "bio-jetfuel" containing 80% "Jet A1", a special kind of kerosene, and 20% biodiesel obtained from soy or rapeseed. A first actual demonstration of a military aircraft - a C-130 Hercules - using the new fuel was given today at a military base near Buenos Aires.
The test showed that the turbines of the Hercules operated equally well with the new "bio-jetfuel" as with "JP1", the fuel it normally uses and which also powers civilian airplanes.
Eduardo Selles, chief engineer of the Departamento de Innovación Tecnológica de la Fuerza Aérea Argentina: "Argentina is pioneering the development of this biofuel and so far we are the only air force to have ever used this mix of biodiesel and JetA1." Selles adds that the biofuel delivers the same power to the turbines as the traditional fuel and that it requires no modifications of the aircraft engines.
Today's test was a ground test but the Argentinian airforce, together with its technical partners of the Universidad Tecnológica Nacional and the Universidad Nacional de Formosa, plans a full flight with the new fuel early next year.
As we reported earlier, in april of this year, Argentina implemented its 'Ley de Biocombustibles' which aims at a production of 800,000 tons of biofuels per year by the year 2010.
More information:
- Reuters América Latina: Argentina avanza en busca de biocombustibles para aviones
- Univision: Argentina desarrolla biocombustible para aviones
- Infocampo: En la carrera por las energías limpias, Argentina apuesta al biocombustible para aviones
ethanol :: biodiesel :: biobutanol :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: biojetfuel ::
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Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Turning brownfields into greenfields with the help of biofuels
But there are interesting ways to clean up our past in an efficient way: brownfields could be turned into 'greenfields' with the help of biofuels. Environmental News Bits reports about a research project at the Michigan State University (MSU) that seeks to turn industrial brownfields green with a project that would grow crops for biofuels which could bioremediate the polluted sites.
Kurt Thelen, MSU professor of crop and soil sciences, is leading the investigation to examine the possibility that some oilseed crops like soybeans, sunflower and canola, and other crops such as corn and switchgrass, can be grown on abandoned industrial sites for use in ethanol or biodiesel fuel production. One of the project's partners is NextEnergy, a nonprofit organization that supports energy technology development.
Thelen: "Right now, brownfields don't grow anything. This may seem like a drop in the bucket, but we're looking at the possibilities of taking land that isn't productive and using it to both learn and produce."
The project now is a two-acre parcel that is part of a former industrial dump site in Oakland County's (Mich.) Rose Township. Thelen's group is looking to determine if crops grown on brownfield sites can produce adequate yields to make them viable for use in biofuel production. The crops also need to produce adequate quantities of seed oil.
A secondary objective is to examine whether the growing plants actually contribute to bioremediation, meaning they take up contaminants from the soils, without affecting their quality for use in biofuels. This might make them especially useful to grow on contaminated brownfields:
ethanol :: biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: sustainability :: brownfields :: bioremediation ::
"As the chemical engineers work on developing a national spec for B20, we'll grow the crops in the marginal areas and see if they can meet it," Thelen said. "We're replicating our study on campus on good agricultural land to compare yields and the quality of biofuel produced from an agricultural land base versus a marginal brownfield land base and see if there's a difference in yield and quality of biofuel."
The three-year study is supported by DaimlerChrysler, NextEnergy and Project GREEEN (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs), the state's plant industry initiative at MSU. The study also is supported by the MSU Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station.
"Biofuel production is going to require a significant land base to meet future production expectations," Thelen said. "Use of marginal lands or sites not preferable for food crops is a good idea. We'll be looking at whether it is something that might offer multiple benefits."
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posted by Biopact team at 8:08 PM 0 comments links to this post