New Aviation Fuel

[lowecur]

What's that expression - "Necessity is the Fatherless Mother of Invention." Oh, that's just in the hood.

John Rusek, Swift Enterprises Ltd founder and current professor at Purdue University’s School of Astronautics and Aeronautics Engineering, has the FAA looking very closely at his new non-turbine general aviation fuel made from biomass that is 15-20% more fuel efficient and costs half as much to produce as current petroleum products. In addition, he said, the components of this fuel can be formulated into a replacement for jet/turbine fuels.

"Our fuel should not be confused with first-generation bio-fuels like E-85, which don't compete well right now with petroleum," Rusek said. "Our new, patented technology can provide the 1.8 million gallons per day required by the non turbine a/c in the U.S. by utilizing only 5 percent of this country's existing bio-fuel plant infrastructure." SwiftFuel(C) has no sulfur emissions, requires no stabilizers; has a 30-degree lower freezing point, introduces no new carbon emissions, and is lead-free, John Rusek said.

Well if all this is true, Professor Rusek will be a very rich man. It certainly would not only be an aviation find, but could make the production of ethanol obsolete.

For those of you who are interested in Electric Vehicles, check out the fuel cell. Instead of a plug in, you just fill up the fuel cell and get 100 miles per gallon in an electric vehicle. Where do I invest?

imp:​

http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/NewGAFuelPromises_BetterRange_LowerCost_197810-1.html

http://www.swiftenterprises.com/Swift Fuel.html

 

[KCPilot]

Here is another idea since we can't get off the oil. It's alternative fuel that turns a wide variety of waste into renewable sources of oil. Changing World Tech

 

[NuGuy]

...deleted

 

[ackattacker]

Hmmm... sounds like the pitch of a company looking for investor money.

I'd be suspicious. Perhaps cautiously optimistic.

Not saying there's nothing to it, though. There has been some interest in Aviation Grade Ethanol (AGE) which is a biofuel. It has the required octane to be a 100LL replacement, but it has a lower energy content so range is reduced.

 

[embpic1]

The sad thing is this. As soon as we start seriously making the transition to alternative fuels, OPEC will drop the price of oil to the point that it is cheaper than the new fuels. They will do their best to keep us addicted to oil. We have a very short memory. As soon as oil is really cheap again, we will be back to our big SUVs.

 

[lowecur]

Hmmm... sounds like the pitch of a company looking for investor money.

I'd be suspicious. Perhaps cautiously optimistic.

Not saying there's nothing to it, though. There has been some interest in Aviation Grade Ethanol (AGE) which is a biofuel. It has the required octane to be a 100LL replacement, but it has a lower energy content so range is reduced.

They aren't tipping their hand on the formulation, which is smart with all the vultures in the energy business that would like nothing better than to have a peek and formulate something similar without any patent infringment. As far as credibility, the fact that he is a professor at a noteworthy U + has garnered the FAA for a look see, puts him above your typical scam artist. Lots of green venture capitalists will be calling for a closer look.....so time will tell.

Approaching a niche market first rather than a total shotgun of the ethanol market shows he is no one's fool. He can pick and choose among smaller more trustwothy players in this field to showcase his invention, then build from there. Since biomass is involved, the existing and new ethanol infrastructure will pay dividends in bringing it to a broader market when the opportunity arises down the road.

The eventual morph to miscanthus, switchgrass and algae is the key to an actual viable alternative energy fuel. Food sources are close to peaking, and a moratorium is needed in the near future, as the world is already experiencing a food tragedy.

Multiple sources are needed in the short-term, and the apparent success of the coal to liquids program will eventually lead the way to less imported oil in the military and airline business. Afterall, jet fuel is close to 50M gallons per day in the USA, as opposed to the 1.8M gallons for non-turbine use.

imp: ​

 

[CitationUltra]

The sad thing is this. As soon as we start seriously making the transition to alternative fuels, OPEC will drop the price of oil to the point that it is cheaper than the new fuels. They will do their best to keep us addicted to oil. We have a very short memory. As soon as oil is really cheap again, we will be back to our big SUVs.

If we did have a viable alternative though, some of us would support it by using it in lieu of petroleum.

I just paid $8 a gallon for Jet-A and think we should explore every possible alternative.

 

[SuperFLUF]

The sad thing is this. As soon as we start seriously making the transition to alternative fuels, OPEC will drop the price of oil to the point that it is cheaper than the new fuels. They will do their best to keep us addicted to oil. We have a very short memory. As soon as oil is really cheap again, we will be back to our big SUVs.

This allready happened after the OPEC embargo of the late 70's. The Carter administration had funded a program to begin the production of coal-oil plants; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer-Tropsch_process when OPEC got wind of this, they dropped the price of oil and we chased the bone they threw.

I hope we wouldn't make that mistake again. The ability to not buy oil from unfriendly nations would have enormous benefits.

 

[flyer172r]

Couldn't find any info on what kind of oil price this new fuel is competitive at, but I don't think OPEC could do anything to lower the price below $50-60 a barrel. Especially since most of the current run-up in oil prices is due to speculation, sinking dollar, geopolitical tension, etc. So if this new fuel is competitive with oil at $50 OPEC probably won't be able to stop it. Not to mention that 100LL sales pale in comparison to gasoline for cars; I doubt oil companies would even notice an impact.

Hopefully the FAA keeps an open mind about this and doesn't get in the way if it works. I'd also like to see how many different kinds of feedstocks can be used.

 

[Exskydiverdrivr]

FWIW- Flight schools, small drop zones and those few who still keep a GA aircraft at the local field could sure use the break. Fuel price is what scares me away from acquiring another straight-tail.