Putting veggies on the front line: U.S. Navy seeks biofuels for jets

Biofuels recently got a big boost from the U.S. Navy with an announcement that Naval Air Systems Command would flight test fighter jets running on biofuels next spring or summer. This is a big vote of confidence for biofuels, given that fuel failure in a combat aircraft is likely to be a life-threatening event, particularly at higher speeds.

The Navy plans on putting three types of biofuels through their land-based paces by test firing engines in December and January of 2009. This is the second big aviation biofuels announcement in August, coming after an announcement that biofuels will be certified for use in commercial aviation by 2011. Last week, Rick Kamin, the Navy fuels lead, stated that "Our major goal is a drop-in replacement" for the Navy's petroleum-based fuels. "The field won't know the difference."