Testing on a range of aircraft

A number of test and demonstration flights have occurred on commercial jet aircraft in the past few years, but none yet on turboprop regional aircraft. Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier is part of a group of companies working towards demonstrating the use of camelina seed oil in a Q400 aircraft in 2012.

The project is being supported by Sustainable Development Technology Canada, an agency created by the Canadian Government. Each of the partners in the consortium is working on a different aspect of the project:

• Targeted Growth Canada – leading the consortium and crop optimisation and growth
• Sustainable Oils – pre-refining the camelina oil
• Honeywell UOP – secondary refinery to aviation biofuel
• Bombardier and Pratt & Whitney Canada – technical evaluation
• Porter Airlines – providing the aircraft

Camelina provides benefits over traditional petroleum-based fuel because it reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80%, reduces sulphur dioxide and is not competitive with food production because it can be grown in rotation with wheat and on marginal land. The strategic benefit to farmers is that it allows them to drive additional revenue from acreage with a low-cost input crop with two end user markets – the oil for fuel and “meal” for livestock and dairy industries.