Boeing and COMAC – Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China have established a new laboratory in Beijing which shall perform research upon creating a method of refining “gutter oil” – waste cooking oil and create jet fuel. 

Gutter oil as it is called in China is the waste edible oil thrown after frying food. Every year approximately 30 million tonnes of edible oil is consumed in China and a major portion is wasted. It is believed that this gutter oil can be harnessed to create jet oil. Thus, Boeing in collaboration with COMAC has developed a research centre to further investigate into this 

approach.

Whereas the overall cooking oil consumption in China is around 30 million tonnes per year, the annual jet fuel consumption is 20 million tonnes per year. Thus this gutter oil can be viewed as an excellent opportunity for tapping an alternative source of fuel.

COMAC is domiciled in China and is active in creation and implementation of programmes regarding passenger aviation in China. Also, China serves as the biggest market for Boeing. Boeing being the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world has always eyed China as a huge opportunity. Simultaneously COMAC also expects to evolve as an independent aircraft manufacturer. COMAC holds advantage of being a domestic player and Boeing has the world class expertise, thus this project can be expected to soon reach a breakthrough and create a revolution in the aviation market. Boeing has always been active in exploring the use of biofuels as jet fuels. Recently Boeing had conducted a test flight of a fuel which was a blend of Jatropa. 

Last year, Boeing had also announced that it has been conducting research on creating fuels from seaweed, algae and also oilseeds. This new venture towards creating biofuels however, has a cost concern. The current refining cost is making this new generation fuel dearer than the conventional fuels. It is however believed that a break even can be reached early and this fuel shall become competitive with the conventional fuels in the span of a decade.

Boeing also eyes production of innovative renewable jet fuels. The company also dreams of creating eco-friendly aviation for the future generation. It is expected that the civil aviation in china shall reach the mark of 1.5 billion by the year 2030. Thus it could be strongly established that Boeing and CONMAC have a golden opportunity in their hands. It is further expected that by the year 2020, approximately 30% of the overall jet fuel requirement in China shall be fulfilled by biofuels.

Cooking Oil driven flights is not a new concept though. Successful projects have already been executed in Europe. However, if China succeeds in this project it will be certainly viewed as a revolutionary breakthrough in the aviation industry.