Research Article

Aviation Fueling: A Cleaner, Greener Approach

Table 1

Overview of biomass resources.

ResourceProsConsTypesKey points

Halophytes (micro and macro)(i) Salt water and brackish water tolerant(i) Requires more farmingSeashore mallow(i) Seawater irrigation
(ii) Byproducts are very useful for other purposes(ii) Undeveloped agriculture and aquaculture(ii) Harvested using conventional equipment
(iii) Cost effectiveSalicornia(i) Growth in various saltwater environments
(iv) Good near term solution

(i) Includes crops such as soybeans, canola, rapeseed(i) Weeds require developed agricultureCamelina(i) Matures in 85–105 days, yield 3.2 tonne/ha 35%–45% oil
(ii) Crop residue potential as pyrolysis fuel
(iii) Grows in nutrient poor soil
Pennycress(i) 0.25 tonne/ha oil seed with 36% oil/seed
(ii) potential to produce 920 L-biodiesel/ha
Weed-to-Crop(iii) competes with arable land and fresh water resources
Castor(i) Nonedible
(ii) Low water demand
(iii) 40%–60% seed oil content by mass
(iv) 90% reduction in GHG
(v) Seed contains ricin

(i) Good candidates for pyrolysis or fermentation fuels
(ii) 1 ton of biomass produces 100 gal of ethanol
(i) Negative environmental impact if harvested (erosion and overall decrease in soil health possible)
(ii) Large-scale production is challenging
Water hyacinth(i) Noxious weed
(ii) Remediates waste water
(iii) Source of pyrolysis fuels
(iv) 5–10 kg-biomass/m2-yr
Lignocellulosic (includes crop residues)Kudzu(i) Noxious weed
(ii) Pyrolysis benefits similar to water hyacinth
Honge(i) Produce oil seeds for processing into biodiesel
(ii) Tolerate brackish water
(iii) Little nitrogen fertilizer needed

Algae(i) Prolific producers(i) Marine: difficult to modifyVarieties(i) Tolerates salt-water
(ii) Enormous lipid potential as cellulosic fuel and food potential
(ii) Enhanced percentage oil/biomass(ii) Wavelength and time of exposure of light affect productivity
(iii) Enhanced solar spectra absorption(iii) Costly
(iv) Environmental adaptivity(iv) Large volume of growth needed to meet full demand
(v) Large area to manage