Biofuels are set to be big business, we can see this if we imagine all the ways that we rely on petroleum fuels at the moment and then look at the benefits of growing a clean and green substitute. Among those leading the way is Sapphire Energy, who is making crude oil out of algae. The San Diego, California Company is starting to turn heads with their innovative biofuel.

The Sky Is The Limit For Biofuels

In August, a Gulfstream G450 corporate jet made the first transatlantic flight powered by biofuel. The flight to the Paris Air Show was showcasing a new Green Jet fuel, made by the aircraft’s owner, the engineering giant Honeywell. This isn’t the first green fuel flight record, in 2010 a United States military F/A-18 broke the sound barrier using a similar fuel. So adoption of this cleaner alternative to aviation fuel looks promising. In fact, the U.S. Navy has promised to have 50% of its aircraft fuel from renewable sources by 2020, a remarkable challenge, but no doubt a way of ensuring the security of fuel supply, as well as a way of cutting emissions and promoting American industry.

Making jet fuel from renewable resources promises to be fantastic for the economy. In 2010 an estimated 60 billion gallons of aviation fuel was consumed by commercial airlines. There is already a drive toward biofuels in aviation, but it isn’t only about the environment. Virgin America CEO David Cush is pledging his company will be running on 10% biofuel by 2020 as well, but the strategy here is to dampen sudden petroleum price spikes by diversifying the fuel blend - good business sense.

From an environmental point of view, biofuels make a lot of sense. The fuel is still burned, it acts pretty much the same way current petroleum products do. However, as they are grown, rather than drilled or mined for, the emissions were not previously sequestered below the earth’s surface. You are not technically adding new carbon to the atmosphere.

The Complications Of Growing Fuel

There is a problem with the Honeywell fuel; it is derived from a plant called camellia. This plant was previously considered a weed, but its oils make for great biofuel. The problem is that the plant needs to be farmed. The demand for fresh water for farming 60 billion gallons of jet fuel will undoubtedly conflict with the fresh water required for 6 billion people. The arable land required to farm this “weed” will also battle with the land needed to feed those people. This is the issue with biofuels.

Algae: The Answer?

Enter a new CleanTech product by Sapphire Energy called Green Crude. Unlike the Honeywell product, Sapphire Energy’s Green Crude is derived from algae. The actual alga is grown in salt water ponds and we can all agree there is no lack of salt water in the world. It can also be grown in tubes, and those tubes can be hung wherever there is sunlight. The growing range of algae appears to contain more diverse potential.

However, industry experts see the actual full scale production of algae based biofuel is still several years away. A lot of development is required to realize this future. What we do know, is that as this fuel turns green, companies like Sapphire Energy are poised to reap the rewards in a big way.