Also, this thread is titled "Future Fuels for JETS". We want jet fuels, not alcohol or gasoline. Jet-A made from algae feedstock is the best choice in this area. Several large companies are tooling up to do it. We can start a broader thread on ethanol and butanol but this one is about jet fuels and mostly about jet bio fuels, although synthetics are also included. Making ethanol to then turn around and make jet fuel with it also makes little sense although I guess it can be done. If you want to argue that, please support it with something.

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Purdue researcher: Ethanol has peaked.
Has the use of ethanol in the U.S. reached its saturation point?

(E. Weddle, 01/10/11, JCOnline) Yes, or says the conclusion of a Purdue University agricultural economics professor who has studied federal data about how ethanol is consumed and about the growth potential in the industry to meet an upcoming federal mandate for renewable fuel use. Wally Tyner says developing next-generation biofuels, such as ones produced from algae or another biomass, is the only way to reach the mandate due to a lack of infrastructure in the U.S. for ethanol. "You can produce bio-gasoline or green diesel as cellulosic fuels. You don't have to produce ethanol," Tyner said of fuels that still are in the development stage. "It goes right into the pipeline and can go right into the system and blend with the gasoline..."

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An unusually pessimistic view of biofuel R&D is presented by the next writer. Some of his points I agree with but either way you do not see a contrary view like this very often. The gist of his perspective is based on the historical fact that fuels always become cheaper and more energy dense as time rolls on rather than the reverse which is true of biofuels. The problem with this is the cost picture will change. Whether it is 15 years or 1500 I think it is safe to assume fossil fuels will get radically more expensive with time. The issue of energy density will not matter as much when the cost is so high. For all we know the low energy-density issue for biofuels may not be as bad if algael biofuel production is successfully pioneered. The real issue in my mind is getting the development done while fossil fuels are still cheaply available so when they run out we have biofuels and other forms of energy at the ready.

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Aviation Biofuels: Real or Green Fantasy?

(AvWeb, 01/17/11, P. Bertorelli) Sometimes, the more you learn about a thing, the more information you gather and the more people you talk to about a specific topic, the harder it is judge. That's definitely the case with aviation biofuels which are, in a sense, leading the charge towards a greener, bio-based fuel economy. I have pored over dozens of reports, research presentations, studies and news articles on this topic and conducted a number of interviews.

The impression I get is of an industry operating on an underlying assumption that biofuels are an inevitability. The typical headline reports on some new development or milestone that's been achieved, but down in the body of the story, you rarely see the offsetting qualifier noting that the entire edifice isn't out of the R&D phase yet. There's a strong tendency to green wash everything, including editorial coverage. When you ask, "how much," people stop talking.

There are aspects of this story that I find encouraging and some that I find worrisome. Specifically, the sheer amount of research work in this area is staggering. There are probably dozens of processes using just as many bio feedstocks and the fact that the Navy and Air Force are throwing money at the problem will have inevitable spinoffs for the commercial side. The fuels themselves—specifically hydrotreated renewable jet—seem to perform well, so well in fact that the Navy is satisfied that the principle part of its testing is done. It wants to run all of its airplanes and ships on a 50/50 blend of petroleum by 2020, an ambitious timeline.

On the piston side, Swift fuel continues its research. Although Swift was initially pitched as a biofuel, I now believe that's a misnomer. It can be a biofuel, if its acetone-based feedstock is derived from biomass. But in my view, the reality is more agnostic than that. Swift's work has concentrated on the downstream side—how to turn acetone into high-octane binary fuel—not the upstream side, which is making the acetone from biomass in the first place. Right now, Swift's largest challenge is finding cheap acetone, regardless of its source...