Boeing has linked with China’s Commercial Aircraft Corp. (Comac) to explore using waste cooking oil to create jet fuel. The project is headquartered in Beijing at the new Boeing-Comac Aviation Energy Conservation and Emissions Reductions Technology Center.
The center is part of the Beijing Aeronautical Science and Technology Research Institute (BASTRI). The research is overseen by Hangzhou Energy Engineering & Technology, a specialist in alternative energy technology. According to an online report on the UK website The Register, China generates 29 million tons of waste cooking oil per year, and a plan to cost-effectively convert some of that waste into jet fuel would not only save energy, but also answer the challenge of how to discard the used cooking oil.
The new center, opened two months ago, is also working with local universities on sustainable aviation biofuels. Qin Fuguang, BASTRI president, said, “China is the world’s fastest growing aviation market and the biggest consumer of cooking oil. There’s great potential for converting the waste cooking oil into sustainable aviation fuel.”
