The Federal Aviation Administration is to leverage the U.S. Air Force’s experience with synthetic fuel, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said here on Tuesday during a press conference. Under the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI), the FAA is studying solutions to replace today’s Jet-A1 kerosene. Looked for are fuels with smaller carbon dioxide (CO2) footprints. The results of two studies are due this September.
The USAF has been for a few months testing a 50/50 blend of conventional and synthetic fuel on a B-52 bomber and a C-17 military transport. This is mainly about securing a critical resource. Cost has been a factor, too. “Every time the oil barrel goes up $10, the Air Force pays another $600 million per year,” Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne said at the conference. The environment has been taken into account–the Air Force will buy only synthetic fuel from those companies with CO2 capture programs.
