Sustainability In Aerospace: How an Underused Biomass Can Revolutionize the Aerospace Industry
You’ve probably seen this around you if you love sushi. Can you guess what it is? It’s Seaweed, not only is it amazing for sushi, but you can use it for rocket fuel! Currently the fuel being used in aerospace is usually some sort of fossil fuel that has been refined to fit the standards of the aircraft/spacecraft.
This could all soon change with the integration of biofuel into the aerospace industry, using algal based fuel. Such can be methane, ethanol, and other forms of combustible fuels for spacecraft/aircraft.
“We have a single mission: to protect and hand on the planet to the next generation.” — Francois Hollande
A Short Crash Course on Algae/Seaweed
The only ever time you’ve probably come across seaweed is sushi. Well that’s where you’re wrong.
Other than for food consumption, algae can be found in any other products. Things such as:
- Dog Food
- Toothpaste
- Fertilizers
- Bioplastics
- pigment
These are only some of the uses for algae in everyday life. There is much more that is not listed in there.
Other than being used in products, seaweed has to come from somewhere. If you didn’t already know. Algae flourishes in the ocean and has many different types. It is a fast growing plant that uses photosynthesis like most plants to create energy for itself. Seaweed is also one of the largest producers for oxygen on the planet. It makes almost half of the oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere, along with other marine life. Not only do you use it in everyday life, but you also breath the air that it creates!
Algae and Seaweed as Fuel: A Quick History
Its only been recently that algae and seaweed are being used to create biofuels. This late innovation is due to the limited technology in the past. As well as the little care that people had for the environment in the past, because of climate change and an increasing consumption of non-renewable resources. Us humans have been innovating sustainable technology such as renewable energy. There is now an emphasis on going green and saving our planet from the increasing global climate. This emphasis on our environment and sustainability is also increasing.
The continued emphasis on environmental sustainability has caused scientist, engineers, entrepreneurs, etc. To innovate new technologies that focus on sustainability. This leads us to use renewable resources such as corn to make ethanol as fuel. As well as other biomasses to create biofuel to further sustain the environment.
Although algae biofuel innovations have been recent. There was an interest of innovating biofuel using algae during the 1970s due to the oil crisis. Researchers used different strains of algae to find the best suited strain to create biofuel.
Seaweed/algae can be made into different fuels, this includes the following.
- Methane: A process is used to extract methane from an algal biomass and used as rocket fuel
- Ethanol: Seaweed can be fermented similar to corn, in order to create ethanol and can be used in cars.
- Biodiesel: Using algae and other biomasses, biodiesel is created by reacting oils from these biomasses and some sort of alcohol.
“Everybody has to be able to participate in a future that they want wo live for. That’s what technology can do.” — Dean Kamen
Advantages Vs. Disadvantages
Seaweed/algae are not the perfect thing, sometimes things sound too good to be true. Here’s a list of the pros and cons of using biofuel
Advantages
- Renewable resource
- Sustainable farming
- Produces oxygen for the environment
Disadvantages
- Still has carbon emissions when combusted
- High cost in production process
- Needs infrastructure for integration into different Industries
Even though there is still carbon emissions when the biofuel is combusted, the amount of oxygen the seaweed/algae produces is equal to the emissions created by biofuels. It could maybe even be able to produce more oxygen than carbon emissions from vehicles using biofuels. The cost in production will also decrease as the technology becomes more advanced through research.
Seaweed can be farmed in a sustainable way. Which is also safe for the environment and can benefit ecosystems. Here’s a great video explaining the demand for seaweed and its sustainable farming process.
Integration of Biofuels in the Aerospace Industry
For now, the aerospace industry uses kerosene for aircraft. As well as RP-1, Methane, and Hydrogen for spacecraft.
Integrating biofuel such as methane or ethanol will be more of a challenge when it comes to aircraft. Aircraft do not traditionally use these fuels for flight, nor do they have the technology or infrastructure to support it. The aircraft industry is in its infancy, in terms of using biofuels. With only a few airlines testing methane/ethanol optimized engines for their aircraft as research.
Integration of biofuel into the space industry is much easier than that of the aircraft industry. Fuels such as ethanol and methane is already used as fuel for rockets. Methane is already being used for SpaceX’s Starship, with their Raptor engine that runs on Liquid Methane and Liquid Oxygen.
Some history of ethanol being used in rockets is by Werner von Braun, the designer of the Saturn V rocket that brought humans to the moon. The Saturn V is not specifically powered by ethanol. Other designs that von Braun created such as the German V2 rocket used by Nazi Germany in WW2 was powered by ethanol.
Leaders in Algae/Seaweed Biofuels: ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil is the leading company towards algal biofuel. Their target is to produce 10,000 barrels per day by 2025, as stated by their website.
In partnership with SGI and MIT researchers, Exxon published an assessment about the possibility of algae being used as biofuel. They are also turning to biohackers in order to genetically modify some strains of algae to better suit biofuel production.
The Future of Seaweed/Algal Biofuel
Lots of research has already been done on the possibility of using algae and seaweed as means of fuel. Also with the help of gene editing to optimize fuel production with algae and seaweed, it is sure to be great for the environment
One thing is certain, the world is changing. With the emerging technologies focused on sustainability. I can almost guarantee that Algal based biofuel is the future of sustainable fuels.
As the technology for biofuel production using these resources, these fuels will get cheaper and cleaner to use.
