Growing Excitement About Jet Fuel Oilseed
Growing Excitement About Jet Fuel Oilseed
Written by Kelvin Heppner on Friday, 29 March 2013
There is growing excitement about the industrial oilseed crop known as carinata or Ethiopian mustard. Last fall, carinata-based fuel was used for the world's first jet flight powered by 100 per cent biojet fuel. Patrick Crampton of Agrisoma Biosciences says they have successfully caught the attention of the airline business.
"The aviation industry is concerned about three things and the first is that it's sustainable. The second is that it is scaleable,because the volumes in question are very significant, and the third is an economic source. Our goal over the last year has been to demonstrate that all those pieces are in place from a value chain perspective," he explains.
The crop is suited for drier and drought-affected regions, particularly the brown soil zone of southwestern Saskatchewan. Crampton says acreage will be increasing slightly from last year, with production contracts for 10,000 acres available through Paterson Grain for 2013.