Fuel
Biofuels Still Have to Solve Economic Conundrum
Environmental benefit proven in principle but difficult to estimate over a life cycle.
Each week an Air France Airbus A320 providing regular service between Toulouse and Paris, France, flies with a mixture of 10 percent biofuel.
Each week an Air France Airbus A320 providing regular service between Toulouse and Paris, France, flies with a mixture of 10 percent biofuel.

Biofuels for aviation are still facing multiple challenges, the greatest being finding ways to make production economical, according to a report jointly released in September by the French Académie des Technologies and Académie de l’Air et de l’Espace. The experts admit the environmental benefit, although proven in principle, is difficult to quantify. Using vegetable oil as a basis for hydro-treated esters and fatty acids (HEFA) is seen as the only path immediately accessible.