Photograph courtesy Kevin North, US Air Force Published May 20,
2011 With high fuel costs buffeting airlines around the world,
the best hope for alternative energy for commercial aviation may
be on the horizon. The standards-setting body ASTM International
is set to vote this summer on certification of hydrotreated
renewable jet (HRJ) fuel. Tests both in the laboratory and in
the air (led by a most prodigious jet fuel consumer, the U.S.
Department of Defense) have shown that HRJ can be processed from
many types of feedstock—from weedy plants to animal fat—to make
a fuel chemically identical to the crude-oil based kerosene that
powers flight today. (Related: "First Green Supersonic Jet to
Launch on Earth Day") "We know it's feasible and safe," said
Lourdes Maurice, director of the office of environment and
energy at the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). "The
hurdles and work that remain are ensuring that the environmental
footprint is one of reduced greenhouse gases, and then, on the
deployment end—e