Engineered sugarcane could be the airline industry's answer to carbon dioxide emissions and pesky jet fuel costs.
According to The Conversation, aviation is among the world's fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas as air travel is projected to nearly double in the two decades to come.
Fortunately, bio-jet fuel can help mitigate some of the harmful environmental effects while saving airlines money. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates global carriers will have spent $129 billion on fuel in 2017.
Researchers are currently working with sugarcane, engineering the plant to produce more oil that can then be turned into bio-jet fuel. Fifty-four acres of engineered sugarcane, known as "lipidcane," could power a Boeing 747 for up to 10 hours, according to The Conversation.
The sugarcane's increased natural oil can be used to produce biodiesel, which can be used to make bio-jet fuel. The benefits of biodiesel are profound as it yields 93 percent more energy than is required to make it and reduces emissions by 41 percent compared to fossil fuels.
Researchers estimate that lipidcane containing 5 percent oil could produce four times more jet fuel per acre of land, compared to soybeans. Meanwhile, lipidcane with 20 percent oil-the theoretical limit based on computer models-could produce over 15 times more jet fuel per acre.
According to researchers, 23 million acres in the southeastern U.S. devoted to lipidcane with 20 percent oil could produce an estimated 65 percent of the U.S. jet fuel supply. At the moment, that fuel would cost airlines only $5.31 per gallon.
Nonetheless, bio-jet fuel production remains minimal given the lack of technology and oil-rich, low-cost feedstocks.
Last year, Alaska Airlines operated a cross-country flight using a 20 percent blend of alternative jet fuel made from leftover tree limbs and branches. The airline said it could reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 142,000 metric tons of CO2 if it could replace just one-fifth of its entire fuel supply at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport with the biofuel.
Hawaiian Airlines also recently became the first U.S. carrier to join a global climate change monitoring project when it teamed up with the In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System (IAGOS) program.
A recent study conducted by scientists at the U.K.'s University of Reading also found that airlines could potentially reduce their impact on climate change by 10 percent simply when altering trans-Atlantic flight routes to avoid areas where emissions are the most impactful.
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