'Stage is set' for biofuels

Biofuels are becoming increasingly popular as global organisations look to produce a reliable renewable energy source.

This is the opinion of Barb Zuehlke, senior editor of Aircraft Maintenance Technology magazine, who stated in an article for the publication that the focus is now firmly on sustainability.

"The needs of the marketplace are bringing the innovation focus to biofuels as the answer to alternative fuels," she remarked.

According to Ms Zuehlke, the US aviation industry in particular is eager to introduce a biojet fuel, with certification of this kind of power source expected on commercial flights in 2012.

Regulatory bodies, investors and fuel firms are all "working toward the same goal", she explained, which is the approval of a cost-effective biofuels product that can be manufactured and supplied efficiently.

Earlier this month, the US Navy and the country's agriculture ministry announced it is launching new initiatives to push forward the development of biofuels research.