Used Oil From Chinese Kitchens To Power Aircrafts

A plant to turn used cooking oil, or 'gutter oil' into sustainable aviation biofuel has been opened by China's Commercial Aircraft Corp. and U. S. Company Boeing in Hangzhou, China Boeing confirmed on Wednesday October 22.



The aviation biofuel pilot project is developed by Chinese Hangzhou Energy & Engineering Technology Co., Ltd. to clean contaminants from waste oils and convert it into jet fuel at a rate of 650 liters (160 gallons) per day, according to a statement from Boeing. 



This is the first facility in China to test a new aviation biofuel conversion technology and scale it up to a pilot plant.



"The project's goal is to demonstrate the technical feasibility and analyze the cost of producing higher volumes of aviation biofuel from gutter oil and other waste cooking oils," the company said.



Test production has started in September 2014 and continuous production is expected to start in November 2014, Boeing confirmed.



The two companies estimate that 1.8 billion liters (500 million gallons) of biofuel can be produced annually in China from used cooking oil, which according to General Electric Aviation, is enough to fly more than 12 million people from New York City to London on Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets.



Gutter oil can also be converted to biodiesel for vehicles with diesel engines, according to Boeing.



"Sustainably produced aviation biofuel will play a key role in reducing carbon emissions from commercial aviation because it reduces emissions by 50-80 percent on a gallon-for-gallon basis compared to petroleum jet fuel," Boeing said.



"Biofuel reduces carbon emissions by 50 percent compared to petroleum diesel," Professor Goksel Demirer from the Department of Environmental Engineering at Middle East Technical University in Ankara concurred with Boeing.



 He also emphasized the environmentally friendly benefit of biodiesel as it does not have any toxic effect on drinking water organisms; in comparison one liter of crude oil is enough to contaminate one million liters of drinking water.



Additionally, "renewable raw materials are the source of the sustainable biofuel and this is a great environmental advantage for the environment," Demirer said.



As yet, the price of the aviation biofuel is not clear yet, but the company expects substantial savings in switching to this energy.



The project also has the potential to reduce local health concerns by using the waste oil for biofuel rather than reusing the product in the food supply.



The Boeing Company is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells fixed-wing aircraft, rotorcraft, rockets and satellites. It also provides leasing and product support services.



The facility, called the China-U.S. Aviation Biofuel Pilot Project, is located in Hangzhou, China - the capital and largest city of the Zhejiang Province in Eastern China.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Ankara