By Susan Kraemer •
October 10, 2009
The US Air Force has placed an order for 100,000 gallons of Camelina-based jet fuel, in addition to the 40,000 gallons the Navy ordered last month for $2.7 million, with delivery to begin this year. Sustainable Oils is supplying them with a biofuel grown in Montana with 80% lower carbon emissions than jet fuels now.
The US Air Force has ordered an additional 100,000 gallons of Camelina for their second round of flight tests starting next June. The DOD is trying to find a non food-competitive biofuel that can be blended with jetfuel to reduce carbon emissions and is running tests on several kinds of alternative fuels.
By Tina Casey •
September 13, 2009
The modern U.S. Navy may be about to put a 3,000-year-old weedlike biofuel crop in its tank. Camelina, the “new darling” of next-generation biofuels, is among a small group of biofuels under consideration for testing this year by the U.S. Navy. One of the aircraft to be tested is the F/A-18 Super Hornet strike fighter, the latest incarnation of the battle-proven Hornet. Sustainable Oils of Montana has just won a contract to provide 40,000 gallons of camelina-based jet fuel to the Navy, so the chances look good for putting the ancient crop to a new use.
The Naval Air Systems Command fuels team will start with a lab analysis of the new fuels, then move on to charting their performance on a bench-mounted Super Hornet F414 engine before moving on to the big one, an in-flight test. Some time in 2010, the Navy could be flying high on a more sustainable fuel.
