Alternative Jet Fuel: The Jatropha Plant?

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The idea for "Alternative Jet Fuel: The Jatropha Plant?" came from BusinessWeek and BusinessWeek.com reader Hugo van Randwyck, who works at Britain's National Archives in London.

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Most biofuels, such as the common ethanol gasoline additive, also exact an expensive physical toll on supply chains. Ethanol corrodes pipelines and biofuels strip off loose particles, which contaminate the oil supply. Another major issue to address is jatropha's need for warm climes. Even 48 hours in frost typically kills the plant, making it difficult to cultivate in most of the U.S. Until plant geneticists can overcome frost problems, U.S. companies will likely import the oil by ship from South America, Asia, and Africa.

Algae Appeal

If jatropha alone isn't ready to fill petroleum's large shoes, biofuels researchers are also exploring algae. Algae can be grown almost anywhere, although in the wild well-fed algae is particularly appealing to birds, fish, and microorganisms hunting their own fuel. An added advantage of coastal cultivation is that algae farms could be near refineries, connecting two parts of the supply chain that can be easily linked to shipping routes. Algae can be harvested multiple times per day rather than a few times per year, and an acre produces an estimated yield of upwards of 5,000 gallons annually—100 times more than soybeans. Will Thurmond, president of Emerging Markets Online and author of Biodiesel 2020, witnessed the Jan. 7 Continental flight as a volunteer with the National Algae Assn. Synthetic biology company Solazyme, which counts Chevron (CVX) as an investor, brews algae near San Francisco, fattening it on sugar and sawdust. "Brewing it is just like Budweiser," Thurmond says.

For a market to open, algae producers need to start mass producing. But first, they need to perfect the process. Thurmond compares the third-generation successes with making a perfect batch of beer at home. "What happens when you want to make 100 million gallons of that?" he asks, alluding to unexpected impurities and manufacturing problems. South San Francisco-based Solazyme is already cutting production costs—over the past three years, the company says its price per gallon has dropped from $3,000 to $8.

Jatropha's price point is still wide open. Without mechanized harvesting, mass distribution simply will not happen. Terasol Energy planted 13,000 acres of oilseed plants, including jatropha. For undeveloped regions, a lack of large industrialized farming competition is a blessing since the harvest provides manual labor. Since jatropha's seed is 35% to 40% oil, pressing is typically done near the crops to reduce weight and shipping costs. In South Africa, Tanzania, East Africa, and Southeast Asia, plants are sprouting by the millions of acres. The Indian government doled out 30 million seeds with a guarantee to buy back citizens' plants. Boeing is collaborating with the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies to develop a plan for large-scale jatropha cultivation, and schools such as the University of Florida and the University of California at Berkeley are also researching the plant. Even with crude oil back to $40 per barrel, the European Union carbon caps that start in 2012 are incentive for international aviation to start moving quickly. "Mankind is pretty good when there's a need," says Jennifer Holmgren, director of renewable energy and chemicals for UOP, the Honeywell subsidiary.

Spielberg is an intern at BusinessWeek.