A lifelong aviation enthusiast who joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in 2007, Curt came to&nbsp;the publication&nbsp;from the broadcast industry where he was a national science and technology television reporter and producer. He writes on the FBO field, aviation finance, and sustainable aviation and occasionally contributes to&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;sister publication&nbsp;Business Jet Traveler. Curt was a member of the AINtv reporting staff that won the 2008 Aerospace Journalist of the Year award for Best Airshow Daily. That same year, he was a finalist for another AJOYA award. He earned an AJOYA for Best Business Aviation Submission in 2018 and was a finalist in that category in 2021. He received the National Air Transportation Association’s&nbsp; Aviation Journalist Award in 2012 and won a Pegasus Sapphire Business Aviation Award for outstanding journalism in 2021.
Before joining AIN, Curt worked with&nbsp;Consumer Reports’ television division, CRTV, and for several local television news staffs. An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1995. Curt lives in New York State with his wife and two young sons.

Business Aviation Services Editor

Curt Epstein

A new ethanol-to-jet production pathway for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) has been accepted into ASTM’s clearinghouse for qualification testing.&nbsp;Developed by Universal Fuel Technology (Unifuel), the “Flexiforming” process upgrades renewable feedstocks—including ethanol, methanol, renewable naphthas, and liquified petroleum gas—into SAF.
While SAF’s higher costs have proven to be one of the concerns regarding its wider adoption, according to Unifuel, its method uses 75% less energy and 33% less hydrogen than other processes. This results in a production cost savings of nearly 50%.
ASTM’s D4054 process is the industry framework that ensures the safety of new fuels, and entails detailed testing, data collection, and review by industry experts, including engine manufacturers and airframers. Acceptance into the clearinghouse is reserved for fuels that are not only technically credible and can be produced at meaningful scales, but also meet quality and safety criteria.
Unifuel’s clearinghouse acceptance comes after a five-month-long pilot project in which the company produced nearly 100 liters of sample SAF. These samples were tested by the Bioproducts, Sciences, and Engineering Lab at Washington State University, a leading authority in SAF research.
Now, the California-based company will focus on producing larger quantities of fuel for the extensive Tier 1 and Tier 2 testing required for ASTM qualification, which could come by the end of 2026. That would render its fuel suitable for blending with conventional jet-A, and further testing would follow along a path towards confirming it as a 100% synthetic drop-in jet fuel.
“The acceptance into the D4054 Clearinghouse confirms that Flexiforming can produce high-quality synthetic aviation turbine fuel with a clear route to ASTM qualification,” said Unifuel co-founder Denis Pchelintsev. “We’re positioned to support the aviation industry’s urgent need for cost-effective synthetic aviation turbine fuel that doesn’t compromise on performance or safety.”

News about environmental issues relating to aircraft operations, including noise issues, emissisions, and regulations. See Fuel for biofuel.

Promising SAF Production Process Enters ASTM Testing

Unifuel’s Flexiforming promises lower cost SAF

A new SAF production process that promises lower-cost fuel begins the ASTM qualification process.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Kerry Lynch

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

GHG emissions are down by 23% over 2019, and employee engagement exceeded target

Bombardier Marks Progress on Sustainability Goals

Sarah Rose

News and issues concerning general aviation, specifically airplanes and helicopters powered by piston and alternative engines (i.e., non-turbine powered aircraft). Subjects include aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

Reducing contrails may outweigh small CO2 increases, according to researchers at UC Irvine

New Tool Helps Aviation Cut Climate Impact

Hanneke Weitering

News and developments about aviation fuel, including jet fuel, aviation gasoline, and biofuel.

Simply reducing aircraft fuel burn is not necessarily the greenest strategy

Researchers Tackle Tradeoffs in Aviation’s Climate Impact

NBAA’s Bolen questioned why readers weren’t given information about environmental advances in business aviation

NBAA Calls Climate Report on Bizjets Flawed, Incomplete

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

Assure provides life cycle SAF use tracking

4Air’s SAF Registry Hits Major Milestone

Amy Wilder

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

Private aviation accounts for about 4% of civil aviation emissions

Study: Private Jets Outpaced Heathrow Emissions in 2023

Students can win up to $250K for research that advances sustainable aviation fuel development

ICAO and UAE Offer $1M to Students Researching SAF

New developments at FBOs including regulations and noise issues; legal disputes; openings, acquisitions and mergers.

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