ROCKFORD -- Aviation biofuel is a swiftly emerging industry. And efforts are under way to see whether it can emerge in the Rock River Valley, too.
Biofuel brainstorming has been part of the agenda at recent meetings about accelerating growth at Chicago Rockford International Airport.
Officials think locally produced biofuel -- low-carbon renewable fuels produced from plants -- could find a ready-made market among passenger and cargo airlines.
A railway and jet fuel pipeline at the airport could bring in raw materials and send surplus biofuel -- essentially, a renewable form of kerosene -- to other markets, such as O'Hare International Airport.
That's an infrastructure advantage for the region in a green-energy niche on the cusp of global growth.
Airlines driving demand
Pike Research, an energy information company in Boulder, Colo., projects that the $83 billion biofuels market will grow to $185 billion by 2021. Commercial airlines and the U.S. military are expected to drive domestic demand.
Environmental policies in Europe requiring clean aviation fuels are adding pressure for biofuel production.
"We want to understand that industry, definitely," said Janyce Fadden, president of the Rockford Area Economic Development Council. "We need to look at it because we need to diversify our industries."
A consultant will do the looking for Rockford. A $150,000 federal Economic Development Administration grant won by the region will pay for a study to identify potential new industries, and to seek expansion opportunities for local companies.
Green energy is a priority in the White House -- this summer, the Obama administration committed $510 million for partnerships with private companies to develop advanced aviation and marine biofuels. The Navy and the Agriculture and Energy departments are involved in the program, which is seen as a matter of national security.
2G alt fuels
Globally, passenger and cargo airlines are racing to meet industry goals. They include carbon-neutral growth by 2020 and a 50 percent decrease in carbon emissions by 2050, according to the International Air Transport Association. The industry hopes the prices of plant-based fuels will be cheaper and less volatile than oil prices.
Biofuels aren't new, but science has moved beyond first-generation alternative fuels (ethanol and soy diesel), which were made with food crops. Second-generation fuels are being made with algae, weeds and wood chips.
One plant, camelina sativa, is among the most promising. It has been grown for thousands of years in Europe for vegetable oil and livestock feed.
The lowly relative of mustard has gone from a weed to a potential commercial crop in the Plains states. It thrives on marginal farmland, requires little water or fertilizer, and does not compete with food crops.
Boeing Co. used a 15 percent blend of camelina biofuel and 85 percent jet fuel in June to fly its new jumbo freighter, the 747-8, from Seattle to the Paris Air Show.
Home-field advantage
While camelina shipments by rail to an airport biofuel factory are possible, local crops also might work.
Near Peoria, experiments continue with pennycress, another high-oil mustard weed. Pennycress can be planted in corn- and soybean fields in the fall and harvested before spring grain is planted.
"It grows like winter wheat," said Chet Kolodziej, executive director of Freedom Field, the alternative-energy showcase at the Rock River Reclamation District on Kishwaukee Street.
Pennycress, like other plant materials, can be refined like oil or fermented like beer into fuel. Fermentation, the process used to make ethanol, is a low-energy way of producing biojet fuel. Refining, he said, requires heat.
The airport's proximity to the Winnebago and Orchard Hills landfills is an advantage for potential refiners. Waste gas from decomposing trash could be a source of cheap refinery heat, providing resources that could help aviation biofuel production work here.
"We're close to a market, we have water and we have relatively cheap energy," Kolodziej said.
The bottom line
The Air Transportation Association of American sees rapid growth in the industry and expects biofuel to be available in commercial qualities by 2014.
Is that realistic?
Steve Thomas, chairman of Emery Air in Rockford, said it's too early to tell.
"The challenge will be to get the manufacturers of planes and engines approved for biofuels," said Thomas, whose company sells aviation fuel and provides repair and maintenance services for private and commercial planes at the Rockford airport.
Last week, one of Emery's customers approved biofuel for its planes. Hawker Beechcraft OK'd the use of biofuels for its turbines when it meets the standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials International.
Having locally made biofuel for jets could make the airport more attractive, Thomas said, especially if environmentally friendly aviation fuel is equally friendly to corporate and airline budgets.
"One of the biggest hurdles will be if it can work in airplanes at a cost-effective price," he said.
The market economics of aviation biofuels haven't been determined, but green jet fuel appears to have a future.
And as the industry scales-up production to meet anticipated demand, renewable jet fuel might be Rockford's energy ticket.
Reach staff writer Brian Leaf at [email protected] or 815-987-1343. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/B_Leaf.
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