Camelina: An environmental solution for the airline industry!

It is really exciting to see so many Prius’ and Honda Civic hybrids on the roads today. Despite the fact that there are environmental issues with the batteries of these electrical vehicles, the automobile industry is slowing moving towards making more fuel efficient vehicles for the average person to purchase. But what about airplanes? It is much more difficult to convert airplanes to run on electricity or hydrogen than cars but not any less critical. A new study conducted by Professor David Shonnard at the Michigan Technological University, found that jet fuel made from camelina (a flowering plant cultivated as an oilseed crop) reduces carbon emissions by 84% compared to petro-based fuels. Check out the full story published by USA Today on April 29, 2009.