SDSU Works toward Ground-Breaking Way to Fuel Planes

by Kelli Gerry (The Collegian) South Dakota State researchers are working to perfect a process that could allow them to turn mustard seeds into jet fuel for Navy fighter planes.

If people like Bill Gibbons are successful, some West River farmers could have a new crop to plant as early as next year, and the Navy will have an alternative to petroleum based fuel, which is important because petroleum can be made less accessible by natural disasters or even terrorism.

A research team in Brookings, led by Gibbons, a biology and microbiology professor, has been studying carinata, a variety of Ethiopian mustard seed. This research stems from a project by the South Dakota Legislature and the South Dakota Oilseed Council.

SDSU is teaming with the University of Florida to lead the charge in producing enough fuel for the Navy. South Dakota’s climate allows carinata to be grown March through October, and weather in the South gives carinata the opportunity to be grown as a crop during the opposite months.

“It’s military-tested,” Rick Vallery said, executive director of the South Dakota Oilseeds Council. “Jets using carinata fuel have longer engine life, fly faster and fly higher than any blend.”

This August, South Dakota residents can see fuel made from carinata in action. The Blue Angels will perform in Sioux Falls using blended fuel from South Dakota carinata, said Dean Barry Dunn of the College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences in a joint Committee on Appropriations hearing during the 2016 South Dakota Legislative session.

Not only can carinata provide an alternative fuel option, but the meal and protein residue can be used to supplement livestock diets – primarily beef and dairy cattle, swine and fish. In addition to being used as feed, the introduction of a potential new crop into crop rotations could spell out good things for the future, Gibbons said.

Introducing a new crop into a rotation is always beneficial but especially so in the case of western South Dakota. Because of the sandy soil West River, leftover nitrogen from fertilizer can seep into the soil, eventually polluting the groundwater. Carinata has deep enough roots that it can use this nitrogen and improve the water quality, Gibbons said. READ MORE