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closeIf environmentalists are looking for a place to launch the equivalent of an Apollo Project to develop alternative fuels, the airline industry might be a good place to start.
The airlines already have a significant motivation for finding alternatives to petroleum-based fuels: a $61 billion industry-wide fuel bill this year. The airlines already are working hard to find a fuel that would be interchangeable with the kerosene now used to power jet engines.
That search has led them to a variety of interesting possibilities. So far, according to experts, the best bet is a coal-based jet fuel blend already used by South African airlines for a decade. The fuel can be used without altering engines or other aircraft equipment, but its production still leaves a sizable carbon footprint.
Several U.S. companies are trying to develop other synthetic fuels and biofuels. One would be made from oily seeds of the jatropha tree, a hardy Mexican plant. Still another would create a biofuel from babassu oil, which comes from a palm tree in Brazil.
Among the more promising and environmentally friendly of the potential biofuels is an algae-based product. Algae is inedible, so production wouldn't create a shortage in food crops. It has a high yield and can be grown anywhere there is water and sunlight.
But so far, scientists haven't found a practical way to harvest it. Nonetheless, the prospect of an algae-based fuel has people excited: Investors have pumped almost $84 million into companies trying to develop algae-based fuel so far this year, up from $29 million in all of 2007.
All this interest suggests that the ideal intersection of new fuel development project could be a government-subsidized program teamed with the airlines, which desperately need an affordable, dependable alternative fuel that won't have severe price fluctuations.
It wouldn't hurt if the alternative were produced domestically and burned cleanly. Responsible airlines not only want a more profitable way to do business; they also would like to go green. But even if a reliable alternative is found, it is not likely to be far cheaper than petroleum-based fuel, so fees for checked bags will remain in place for the foreseeable future.
Still, the successful development of a workable alternative fuel -- with help from the government -- would have an effect well beyond greener jets. It could pave the way for a global revolution in transportation.
IN SUMMARY
Airlines and government could join forces to find a new, greener alternative fuel.
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