The Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative

This paper describes the recently established Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuel Initiative (CAAFI), including its goals and objectives, as well as presents an alternate fuel roadmap that was originally generated by industry and refined by the CAAFI stakeholders.

CAAFI is designed to coordinate the development and commercialization of “drop-in” alternate fuels (i.e. fuels that can directly supplement or replace crude oil derived jet fuels), as well as exploring the long-term potential of other fuel options. The ultimate goal is to ensure an affordable and stable supply of environmentally progressive aviation fuels that will enable continued growth of commercial aviation.

This initiative is organized into four sub-groups: Research and Development (R&D), certification, environment, and economics & business. The R&D group seeks to identify promising new drop-in alternate fuels, and to foster coordination of development efforts. The certification group is creating a streamlined common approach to the certification of alternate fuels. The environmental group is addressing well to wake and life-cycle implications associated with synthetic and renewable alternative jet fuels. The economics and business group is helping to determine how these fuels can provide fuel suppliers and airline operators with a sound business case.