Application of Alternative Fuels in Aviation

Abstract

The ever-tightening environmental regulation, the reduction of the extractable fossil energy sources and the continuously increasing energy demands necessarily require the intensive research and development of new alternative fuels (including bio and synthetic). The main requirement is that they must have approximately the same physical characteristics as their conventional counterparts. Practically it means, that they can be used alone or in combination with the traditional fossil fuels and burnt in the engines of available aircraft without any or with small modification of the engines. Their advantage is that they can be produced from raw materials that can be found in large quantities in our environment (eg. coal, carbon dioxide), thus making the wastes recyclable (eg. the waste of tilapia fish which unsuitable for consumption, urban solid waste) or plants, microorganisms (such as algae), which cultivation and the production of raw materials produced from them, does not burden the environment.