Are there alternative forms of fuel for kerosene?

Answer:

There are some initiatives to find alternatives to fossil fuels for kerosene and jet fuel.

From the wikipedia entry on jet fuel....

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Green Flight International flew the World's first jet aircraft on 100% biofuel. The flight from Nevada's Reno - Stead airport was in a single engine L-29 piloted by Carol Sugars and Douglas Rodante.

  • Boeing and Air New Zealand are collaborating with leading Brazilian biofuels maker Tecbio and Aquaflow Bionomic of New Zealand and other jet biofuel developers around the world.
  • Virgin Atlantic successfully tested a biofuel blend made from 20% babassu nuts and coconut and 80% conventional jet fuel fed to a single engine on a 747 flight from London to Amsterdam.

Oil prices increased about fivefold from 2003-2008, raising fears that world petroleum production is becoming unable to keep up with demand. The near-total dependency on petroleum for aviation fuel adds extra urgency to the search for alternatives: twenty-five airlines went bust or stopped operations in the first six months of 2008 and more could fold as fuel prices soar, IATA warned .

Jet biofuels in practice

  • Virgin Atlantic flew a Boeing 747-400 in early 2008 with one engine operating on a 20% biofuel mix of babassu oil and coconut oil
  • Air New Zealand will fly a Boeing 747-400 with one of four engines on a biofuel/kerosene mix in 2008/2009
  • Continental Airlines will fly a Boeing 737 on 3rd generation biofuel in 2009.

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First answer by Chewd. Last edit by Chewd. Contributor trust: 242 [recommend contributor recommended]. Question popularity: 2 [recommend question].