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| Information provided by the University of North Dakota |
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Crop-based Jet Fuel Offers Major Economic Development Opportunities for the State
 A biojet fuel being developed at the University of North Dakota could significantly expand the market for North Dakota and national vegetable oil crops including canola, soybeans, and sunflowers.
Wayne Seames, associate professor of chemical engineering, and Paul Lindseth, associate dean of the University of North Dakota John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences (UND Aerospace), cooked up the idea of using biodiesel—diesel fuel based on plants rather than petroleum—as a jet fuel. They visited with fuel expert Ted Aulich at UND's Energy & Environmental Research Center. He's been working with biodiesel and a biological avgas (used in propeller planes) Seames and Aulich recently submitted a provisional patent for a process to generate biojet fuel from crop oils, such as soybean oil, and also from animal fats and wastes. This is just one example of how UND scientists and engineers are working to turn energy promises into a parade of cheaper, cleaner fuels, and an enterprise to support them "These developments could have a tremendous impact for agriculture," says Seames, a petroleum industry veteran. He points to a UND College of Business and Public Administration/School of Engineering and Mines student-developed model business plan, called Greenflight, LLC, which offered one outline for the commercialization potential of a biojet fuel plant. According to the students, the fuel used on one flight from Denver to LaGuardia Airport in New York by a Boeing 777 airplane would consume the oil produced from 40 acres of soybeans. "We're experimenting with all of the emerging technologies that will eventually transform the way we drive, the way we heat our homes, and how we power our industries," says Manohar Kulkarni, chair of mechanical engineering. "With this kind of research, we want to promote environmental awareness and alternative energy savvy." For more information, please refer to the following resources:
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