Jet fuel may be grown on iconic Aussie gum trees

If we could plant 20 million hectares of eucalyptus species worldwide, which is currently the same amount that is planted for pulp and paper, we would be able to produce enough jet fuel for five per cent of the aviation industry. Scientists are a step closer to using Australia's iconic gum trees to develop low-carbon renewable jet and missile fuel. Dr Carsten Kulheim from The Australian National University (ANU), a lead researcher in an international study published in Trends in Biotechnology , said renewable fuels that could power commercial aeroplanes were limited and expensive but a solution could be growing all around us. "If we could plant 20 million hectares of eucalyptus species worldwide, which is currently the same amount that is planted for pulp and paper, we would be able to produce enough jet fuel for five per cent of the aviation industry," said Dr Kulheim from the ANU Research School of Biology. The aviation sector globally produces about two per cent of all human-caused carbon dioxide emissions. Eucalyptus-based fuel would initially be more expensive than fossil fuels to make on a mass scale, but would produce significantly less net carbon emissions. Dr Kulheim said powering a modern jet aircraft with anything other than fossil fuels was difficult, due to the high energy required.