Boeing

As many of you know most of the gasoline available in North America today has a biofuel component of between 5 and 10 percent. Newer cars and trucks are E85 compatible, meaning they can operate with up to 85 percent ethanol blended into the gasoline -- which means there is a total growth opportunity of up to 75 percent in the North American biofuel market.

Two European airlines will soon be flying the friendly skies with recycled cooking oil. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Thomson Airways will be using bio-kerosene to power some of their aircrafts.

Engineers are constantly trying to make airplanes more efficient, and there's finally a big push to do so. In “The Future of Flight,” Special Correspondent Josh Zepps takes a look at how the aviation industry is evolving to meet new needs and pressures, with new aircraft designs and advanced fuels.

Here are the Top 10 Renewable Energy News Stories You May Have Missed this Week:

Boeing Co.  (BA) recently signed an US$89 million contract with the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop and fly a high-altitude unmanned aircraft (UAV) for the Vulture II demonstration program. The solar-powered aircraft, SolarEagle, is a full-scale demonstrator designed to stay continuously aloft for five years at high altitudes.

The quest to develop viable solar airplanes recently reached a milestone with a successful first flight of the all-solar-powered airplane, the Solar Impulse, on April 7th.

The Impulse HB-SIA, a lightweight prototype with the 208-foot wingspan of a Boeing 747-400 flew for 87 minutes in Switzerland.

Jet fuel is responsible for upwards of 40 percent of an airline’s operational costs, making this industry particularly sensitive to volatility in the oil market. 

Question:  When is it news that an airplane taxis down a runway?

Answer:  When it’s the first plane powered solely by solar power.

Blue just got a little greener!  Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) has added a special plane to its fleet.

Earlier this month, The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology was commissioned by Boeing (NYSE:BA) and biofuel tech giant Honeywell UOP, to study the potential of halophytes (a saltwater plant).