Local Scientists Looking at Transforming Sugar Beets into Jet Fuel

by Jon Shainman (WPTV) Scientists on the Treasure Coast literally taking things from the ground to see if they can power things in the skies.

“I was physically pulling beets out of the ground in Belle Glade and bringing them here," said Research Chemist Cristina Dorado Wednesday.

Dorado’s space at the USDA research lab in Fort Pierce was part of the "Farm to Fly" project. Funded by a USDA grant, Dorado and her colleagues were trying to turn the sugar beet into a key ingredient for jet fuel. At the lab, the work was done to steam explode the beets to get to the sugars.

To see if this could be done on a larger scale, the scientists successfully repeated their experiment at the Tropicana facility in Fort Pierce earlier this summer.