Myths of Biofuel

(Schematic of Methyl Linoleate, a.k.a. biodiesel, a semi-energetic molecule. It's also one of the chemicals used by insects to communicate. Will widespread use of biodiesel cause a butterfly genocide? Probably not.)

Biofuel-Powered Jet Makes First Flight

Sorry to piss on Richard Branson's parade, but the coverage of this story has glossed right over the facts. The truth, as buried in a BBC "read more" piece (and mentioned nowhere in CNN's coverage):

"One of the aircraft's four engines ran on fuel comprising a 20% biofuel mix of coconut and babassu oil and 80% of the normal Jet A aviation fuel. "

Right. So despite all of the pictures of Branson juggling coconuts on the tarmac in front of the plane, giving quotes to the press on "the future of green aviation", all he did was water down the standard, petroleum-based jet fuel in ONE of the engines with 20% nut oil.

I'm all for alternatives, but stunts like this do serious damage to this cause. These are the things oil companies use to make looking for alternatives seem a waste of time. And looking for alternatives is not a waste of time. We just haven't found any good ones yet.

Biodiesel is not the silver-bullet solution for cars either. They pollute just as much as petroleum-fueled cars, it's just that their toxic by-product is not carbon dioxide. Biodiesel-fueled cars do however work well and as advertized.

Planes are a completely different story. Until we start seriously re-engineering the coconut genome, biofuels will NEVER be energetic or stable enough to power a jet. Until then, why is Richard Branson playing pretend?