Boeing tips 'gutter oil' to be liquid gold

Aerospace manufacturer Boeing has tipped cooking oil, commonly referred to as 'gutter oil', as being liquid gold for biofuel innovation.

China consumes 29 million tonnes of cooking oil every year. Boeing and COMAC noted that the aviation industry uses 20 million tonnes of petroleum-based jet fuel in the same amount of time, which could make gutter oil an ideal alternative to fossil fuel for China's airliners.

A new lab has been opened in Beijing to explore this possibility, with work carried out in the Aviation Energy Conservation and Emissions Reductions Technology Centre at COMAC’s new Beijing Aeronautical Science and Technology Research Institute hoped to significantly advance on this hypothesis.

COMAC, a state owned company, plan to become an independent manufacturer of "large Chinese passenger aircraft that will soon be soaring through the blue skies". Simultaneously, Boeing has been eying up the Chinese market with increased interest.

The two firms are now looking to partner up to expand opportunities for commercial aviation in China and elsewhere. The biofuel analysis capabilities of COMAC make them an ideal partner for Boeing, who has been experimenting with biofuel powered planes since 2008.

Dong Yang Wu, vice president of Boeing Research & Technology in China, said: "We are excited about opportunities to partner with world-class research capabilities in China in ways that will accelerate the global push for renewable jet fuels and support commercial aviation’s growth while reducing its environmental footprint."

The 2011 environmental report produced by Boeing revealed that it has a keen interest in fuels derived from algae, salt water grasses and oilseeds which it claims "do not compete with food crops for land or water."

Gutter oils also fall within their remit, and with such an abundance of the resource, it may prove to be an area they invest significantly in. Boeing believe that with enough research, the alternative fuel could reach a marketable price in less than ten years.

Posted by Claire Manning