Blatant Reality

A couple days ago, I mentioned that EADS was going to unveil a new algae-biofuel technology at the ILA 2010 Berlin Airshow. Today it was announced that this new technology would be an aircraft that can run on algae fuels.

The best part is, the aircraft will fly on 100% algae fuel at the airshow, the largest percentage any aircraft has used to fly that I have heard of.

European aerospace giant EADS is poised to unveil a “hybrid” helicopter that runs on algae fuel, a world first, its technical director said on Friday.

The firm will present the machine at the Berlin air show (ILA) that runs from June 9 to 13, Jean Botti told the Die Welt daily.

“At the ILA, we are going to fly for the first time a craft with biofuel that has been made 100 percent from algae. That is a world premiere,” Botti said.

“We need a paradigm shift in the aviation industry. We soon need an alternative to kerosine,” he said, adding: “If 10 percent of our fleet is flying with biofuel in 2040, I would be extremely happy.”

I am very curious to see who provided the algae biofuel that will fuel the aircraft and what the production costs were. If EADS, or whoever supplied EADS, has developed an algae biofuel production method that produces aviation fuel on par with traditional petroleum based fuels, the world may be closer to seeing commercialized algae fuels than most people think. However, I feel that probably isn’t the case.

Nevertheless, if the flight is successful, this could lead to a renewed push in algae biofuel development, especially in the airline industry.

UPDATE (6/10/10): It seems my earlier statement that it would be a helicopter that would run on 100% algae-based fuels were wrong. It is actually an aircraft and the post now reflects that.