ABSTRACT

In both the commercial and military sectors, there is significant global interest in developing, testing, and using alternative jet fuels to create a sustainable and stable fuel supply while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, the aviation industry is entirely dependent on a finite supply of petroleum-based fuel sourced in part from politically and economically unstable regions of the world. In 2009, 17.8 billion gal (67.4 billion L) of commercial jet fuel was used in the contiguous United States, and in 2010, 1.5 (5.7), 0.6 (2.3), and 0.8 (3.0) billion gal (L) of jet fuel were used by the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Army respectively (Carter et al., 2011). U.S. commercial and military aviation sectors have set ambitious near-term alternative fuel and environmental performance targets. This includes a tentative Federal Aviation Administration goal of 1 billion gal/yr (BGY; 3.8 billion L/yr, BLY) of alternative fuel use by commercial aircraft by 2018. The U.S. Air Force has set a usage target of 50% alternative fuels for U.S. Air Force domestic aviation by 2016 (0.73 BGY; 2.8 BLY), and the Navy has set a total energy consumption (0.3 BGY; 1.1 BLY) of 50% alternative fuels by 2020 (Carter et al., 2011). If these targets become policy, at least 2 BGY (7.6 BLY) of domestically produced alternative jet fuel will be required by 2020.