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[♪♪] [female narrator] The search for petroleum never ends.
It goes on around the clock and around the globe.
Yet as the world's population approaches 7 billion
and more players enter the global economy,
demand for fuel is growing at an unprecedented rate.
If we do nothing, the cost of the fuel we need to heat our homes, drive our cars,
fly our planes, and power our industries will continue to increase.
[♪♪]
[Dr. James Kinder - Boeing Chemist] We need options, and we need to start now.
You don't wait until all the petroleum runs out.
You have to start now.
[narrator] That's why Boeing is leading the way in the development
of a renewable source of energy: biofuels,
a sustainable alternative to petroleum that meets stringent aircraft fuel requirements
and is completely compatible with the existing aviation infrastructure--
an investment worth trillions.
[Kinder] We really need what we call a drop-in fuel.
That way we don't have to redesign our whole engines.
We don't have to redesign our whole airframes.
You put in a distribution system, fill up an airplane, and go.
[narrator] Biofuels can be made from a number of sources, including seeds and nuts,
algae, microbes, inedible plants, and forest wastes.
[Kinder] Camelina is one of the sources that we use to make jet fuel.
You take this camelina seed, you just harvest it, squeeze it,
and once you squeeze it out, you make an oil.
And then you take this oil and run it through a chemical reactor,
and what you get is nice, beautiful, clear jet fuel.
[♪♪]
[narrator] Since biofuels are derived from living plants, they're a renewable resource.
So, unlike fossil fuels, biofuels can be replaced.
Just as important, biofuels can help cut greenhouse gases
by reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
[Kinder] When you talk about biofuels,
they have to be done right.
We actually are trying to figure out how much energy it takes to take this biomass,
to grow it, to harvest it, to process it, turn it into jet fuel.
That's what we call the whole life cycle.
[narrator] Tests have shown that biofuels can perform as well as
or better than petroleum-based fuels.
During one test flight, the new Boeing 747-8 Freighter
flew 5,000 miles with all 4 engines powered by a biofuel blend.
[Kinder] Before we started this program, nobody thought we could take a bio-derived fuel
and make aviation jet fuel. And if we could, it wouldn't be economically viable.
What people thought would take us 10 years; we did in 2 years.
[♪♪]
[Boeing - Copyright © 2012 Boeing. All rights reserved.]