Industrial bioscience company Amyris and energy giant Total have begun to market a so-called drop in jet fuel containing a 10-percent mix of renewable farnesane under a newly revised ASTM standard, the companies announced in June. Amyris and Total have worked closely on approval of the new fuel with Boeing, which, according to the airframer’s managing director of environmental strategy and integration, Julie Felgar, wants to see biofuel account for a 1-percent share of the total jet fuel supply within 10 years.
The ASTM standard involved an “end-to-end” evaluation program to verify and ensure the compatibility of the renewable jet fuel product with aircraft and engine components and systems. According to the companies, the fuel’s favorable properties include a low freezing point, high thermostability and high net heat of combustion. The Brazilian fuels regulator, ANP, has indicated it will include the fuel as an option among the other alternative aviation fuels already allowed in the national specification.
