Officially, Boeing's stand on powering commercial aircraft with fuels other than petroleum is a no-no. Boeing is a lot like Jurassic Park, with a lot of fossils crawling around. Big Oil sits on the corporate board, and with close to 1/7th of the nation's oil supply used by the airlines...well, they just ain't going to allow the competition to come in. Trouble is, the airlines are madder than all of Heaven over the price of fuel.

The truth is, existing aircraft can run on alternative fuels, like alcohol or BioDiesel. The truth is, fuels like propane, natural gas, or hydrogen can safely be integrated with commercial aircraft. To talk to Boeing spokespeople, they will tell you that the solution to greenhouse gases, and the high cost of fuel is better energy efficiency. That's kind of like telling a drunk, if you drink slower, you will not be an alcoholic. Boeing bluntly is addicted to OIL.

Most promising are BioDiesiel fuels, derived from farm products. While still not yet approved by the FAA, there is still potential. One major concern is freezing of the fuel lines. BioDiesel can gel, but modifications to the aircraft's heating system could solve that. Alcohol (both methanol and ethanol) has already been tested and approved by the FAA...but so far no airline has used it. Alcohol can also be derived from agricultural products. Even BioDiesel has some alcohol mixed in, thus aiding combustion.

Of interest are the "inerting" of fuel tanks with inert gases like nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and (my favorite) Argon. There is a major concern over lightning strikes going into a fuel tank. It is suspected as the cause of the TWA 800 accident (the 747 that blew up off New York). The FAA has recently ordered Boeing to install inerting gas generators on all its fleet worldwide. Yep, this mini operation will cost the airlines and Boeing a lot of $$$. But it means a safer fleet.

But making these fuels from renewable energy is still a task. Solar collectors can preheat feedstock, and solar photovoltaic cells can produce the electricity for the pumps. The fact is solar energy can be integrated with production of BioDiesel and Alcohol fuels. The concept of a solar powered refinery is feasible.

Another way of integrating solar energy as part of BioDiesel and Alcohol fuels has been dubbed HelioHydroelectric. If we are going to grow crops for aircraft fuels, we need to know where the water will come from. Droughts are hard on plants. Few are aware that under the American west is a huge, deep salt/alkaline water cavern. It is deep below the fresh water tables. This salt water can be pumped to the surface for flooding dry salt lakes, creating evaporation ponds. This additional moisture would create local morning fog and local rain. The salt left behind in the ponds can be controlled to prevent contamination of fresh water. But more relevant, these salts are minerals laden with gold, silver, manganese, etc. By using electrolysis, these minerals can be mined from the salt ponds. That's how you finance the entire project. In fact, many 'dry wells' dug by the oil companies for exploration have hit this huge salt lake below ground. So in many cases the wells are already dug and ready.

Many nations do not have adequate oil resources, but do have other energy resources. Nepal, for example, has hydropower to make hydrogen. Some nations have little oil but do have natural gas (like Bolivia). By making aircraft multi-fuel it allows airlines to be able to tap into local energy resources, and not be so dependent on Middle Eastern resources. Is it feasible to run an aircraft on propane, natural gas, or hydrogen? Yes, but safety is a major concerned with liquid or compressed gases. If it is possible, there needs to be attention paid to making gases like Argon, Nitrogen, or Carbon Dioxide inert. Ironically, these gases can also be inserted into the engines. The expansion of these cold gases give additional thrust, just like, well, a shook-up cola can. These gases also have known fire-fighting capabilities.

Boeing is still stuck back in the days of believing oil will always remain $20 a barrel. Airbus employees ride bicycles, trains and buses and ferry boats to work. Boeing employees drive expensive gasoline cars. Maybe that's the reason why Airbus is more receptive to these ideas than Boeing! Boeing could be doing more, and offering a new 787 that runs on clean and green fuels....if they only tried.

--Martin Nix is an ex-777 electrical engineer active in renewable energy issues.