Algae to Offer Airlines Cleaner Jet Fuel in Future

                As airlines struggle to find cleaner ways to power jets and with an industry-wide meeting on CO₂ emissions just months away, scientists are busy growing algae in open tanks at an Airbus site near Munich. The European aerospace group is part financing the Munich Technical University project to grow algae for bio-fuel and although commercial production is a long way off, hopes are high. The bio-fuel from alga-culture could cater for 3-5% of jet fuel needs by about 2050. Algae can grow 12 times faster than plants cultivated on soil and produces an oil yield about 30 times that rapeseed. However, although aviation bio-fuel made from feedstocks such as flax or used cooking oil is available, limited stocks and low oil prices mean only a few airlines, including Lufthansa and KLM, are using it on a trial basis. To substitute 100% of the kerosene use today, researchers will not do it with algae alone. They need a combo of different technologies to enable that substitution. Airbus also says the technology is still at an early stage and is not financially viable for airlines just yet. But they are sure that over time, they will make it possible to offer kerosene made of algae for a competitive price.