GE, Darpa join on biofuel
General Electric’s research arm and the U.S.

General Electric’s research arm and the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (Darpa) have joined forces to develop an entirely bio-based jet fuel to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. The main challenge is to make the conversion process efficient. The project envisions a conversion efficiency, by energy content, of crop oil to JP-8 surrogate of between 60 and 85 percent. The current focus is military, but commercial aviation might well reap some fruit eventually.

The program is called “Highly efficient bio oil conversion to jet fuel.” GE and Darpa plan initially to deliver some 100 liters (26 U.S. gallons) of fuel to the Department
of Defense for evaluation. The fuel is intended to meet military JP-8 specifications. The research partners will also address how to qualify and commercialize such a fuel.