Earlier this month, a team of scientists at the University of North Dakota’s Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) successfully tested a new biofuel based on a mixture of canola and soybean oils, and claim it may be the key to zero emission aviation [video].

The new super-biofuel, known as Jet Propellant-8 (JP-8) was used to launch a rocket above the Mojave Desert, where it approached the speed of sound and reached an altitude of 20,000 feet - a major leap forward in biofuel-powered flight.

Speaking about the launch Carsten Heide, associate director for the EERC said, “We demonstrated that this fuel is a flying fuel, and is 100% renewable and burns clean. It would open up the possibility to run 100% renewable, clean planes. You can see in the picture how clean it burns.”

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Jatropha has the potential to produce 4 times the amount of biodiesel as soybeans and 1.5 times the amount of even a dedicated oil crop such as canola. This alone has been enough to make people sit up and take notice, but jatropha’s true beauty lies in the fact that it can be grown on literal wasteland — land that has been left for dead with little rainfall, poor soils, and a harsh climate.

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It was first reported in January that Virgin Atlantic would test flight a Boeing 747 jetliner using a biofuel, without naming the fuel. An algae-derived biofuel was, however, mentioned as a strong possibility for the flight between London Heathrow airport and Amsterdam. The plane will carry a limited flight crew and no passengers.

Next, an official of the UK Department of Transport claimed in a document leaked to Flight International that a 20% mixture of algae biofuel and regular jet fuel will be used in one engine for the test.

The latest comes from a Boeing official who said, in an interveiw with Flight at the Singapore air show, the Virgin Flight will definitely not use algae-derived biofuel in the test. Instead, a first-generation feedstock, such as soy, canola, babassu or palm oil will be the source of the biofuel.

The use of a hydrogenated fuel would, as one expert put it, “be a good demonstration of proof of concept.” He did say, however, that algae will be considered as a fuel source in the future.

Well, whatever they use, it’ll be a first for the commercial aviation industry. An Airbus 380 flew with a gas-to-liquid biofuel a few weeks ago, proving that a biofuel was an option, but in their case it was a fuel derived from fossil deposits.

The test is slated for the end of February, so we’ll know soon what fuel was used in the flight.

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Are biofuel mandates and tax credits such a good idea? It may be wise to learn from the EU’s experience…

After passage of the new Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) late last year (see earlier post), which mandates production of 15 billion gallons of corn-grain ethanol by by 2015, many of us are left contemplating the vast implications for US industry, not to mention commodity prices, auto manufacturing, and the greater course of biofuel research and development.

Rewind to 2003, when the European Union (EU) passed a biofuel directive requiring 5.75% of transport energy to come from biofuels by 2010, increasing to 20% by 2020. When paired with tax credits for biodiesel production, business boomed, at least for a while:

Mirroring the U.S. experience with ethanol, European companies rushed to make biodiesel out of a range of things, including rapeseed crops and used McDonald’s frying oil. Low raw-material costs and generous tax breaks meant margins were high. By last year, Europe’s annual capacity to make the fuel had climbed to 10 million metric tons from two million tons in 2003.

As with ethanol in the U.S., though, Europe now has a glut of biodiesel. The world consumed only nine million tons of biodiesel last year. Europe’s producers found buyers for just five million tons. The industry is in trouble, under pressure from soaring costs, disappearing tax breaks, less-costly imports and waning public support.

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This has been a hot issue, and in 2005 the Oregon Department of Agriculture passed an administrative rule banning the growth of Canola in the Willamette valley - a rule that is only now coming under review.

The debate has again spilled into the news, and in an open letter to the Oregon Biofuels Network (OBN), Nick Tichinin of the Universal Seed Company responded at length to a clipped article published in the Capital Press. The portion of the article posted to the OBN implied that Tichinin was opposed to biofuels as a whole. The issue is not with renewable fuel, he says, but specifically with growing Canola in the Willamette Valley, which "could devastate a highly lucrative vegetable seed industry."

Oregon's vegetable seed industry relies on seed purity to meet market specifications, Tichinin said, and science has shown canola, a brassica crop, cross pollinates with other brassicas, such as cauliflower and broccoli, and shares many of the same pests and diseases. . .

Evidence from canola production in Canada and other sites shows if canola gains a foothold here, it will spread rapidly along roadsides and field borders, Tichinin said. Also, he said, it will introduce insects and plant diseases that can devastate vegetable crops. The result in the short term, he said, will be higher production costs for fresh vegetable and vegetable seed growers. Eventually, it will push vegetable seed buyers out of the region, Tichinin said.

This article, when posted to the Oregon Biofuels Network, ommitted the section where Tichinin said he "is not against the production of biofuels."

"It is not my contention at all that biofuels are a bad idea," he said. "But it is my contention that producing canola in the valley is a bad idea."

What's more important than the flagrant omission is the response it elicited from Tichinin. The situation in the Willamette valley, while perhaps wholly unique, highlights how varied local circumstance can influence the implementation of general renewable energy solutions. Growing Canola in Western Oregon, despite the national biofuel frenzy for seed crops, may not be a viable solution.

For a much deeper appreciation of the growers perspective, take a look at the full letter written by Nick Tichinin. Here are a few excerpts:

Dear Biodiesel Folks,

I am strong supporter of renewable energy strategies of every kind. I support the development and use of biofuels, including biodiesel, as one of the many strategies we need to use to supply our current and future energy needs
I am a Willamette Valley farmer, and also owner of a company that produces vegetable seeds in the Willamette Valley. There are numerous companies, besides my own, that produce vegetable seeds in the Willamette Valley. In fact, the Valley is one of the principal seed production areas supplying the world. My company alone ships over 2 million lbs of vegetable seeds annually around the world and the USA. To put this into perspective that is enough seed to plant about 1 million acres of vegetables annually. I am sure that all of you whether urban, suburban, or rural dwellers are aware that we live in a wonderful plant growing paradise. The reason that we grow vegetable seeds in the Willamette Valley is this; due to the unique confluence of natural attributes of soil, water, climate, latitude and growing season, it is one of only a very few places in the entire world that is perfectly suited to grow a wide range of vegetable seed crops. . .

Specialty seeds are very high value, high management, low acreage crops. They require a high level of agronomic management (expertise), regular care, and attention to maintaining the genetic integrity of the crop( think smaller family farms where the grower intensely manages his crops). . . Canola is a high volume, low value, low care crop that is grown on very large areas of land to be economical. The profit per acre is very, very, low, therefore a farmer has to grow a lot of acres to cover his costs of production (think very large farms/corporate/subsidized farming). . .

Canola, growing on roadsides and ditch banks is now on the top 10 ten list of Noxious weeds in Canada. It is now an established fact that these roadside volunteers are genetically crossing with each other and accumulating or “stacking” herbicide resistant genes. So canola as a roadside weed has been found to contain stacked triple herbicide resistence. Not good. . .

At present there is modern day gold rush to biofuels. There is a great deal of money available now, most of it government money, some of it private venture capital. When large sums of money get thrown around it tends to cloud peoples thinking and there are always “promoters” looking to gather up some of that easy money. These promoters are looking at the personal benefit to be derived from cashing in on the gold rush, not thinking in terms of the greater social issues. If you have made it this far in your reading I would ask you try to understand that all technologies have a potential downside, and biodiesel is no different. By all means continue to be a supporter of biodiesel, but be aware that the current move to promote canola production in the Willamette Valley by certain people in our state government and University system is a serious, misguided mistake.