Navy and Amyris team on developing jet biofuel

In California, biosynthetic research is being done in China Lake, California, by Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division and Amyris, Inc. Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Living Foundries: 1000 Molecules Program, NAWCWD and Amyris’ project starts with specially developed yeast cells and ends with a high-density missile fuel. Through the Living Foundries program, the team at NAWCWD developed a process to convert a complex mixture of biosynthetic hydrocarbons (produced by Amyris) to a high-density missile fuel. This fuel was recently ground-tested in a liquid fuel ramjet test stand, representing a first-of-its-kind demonstration.

BioRenewable-1, the fuel the team produced, has up to 19% higher volumetric energy density than conventional jet fuel. That’s comparable to JP-10, a synthetic fuel currently used to power cruise missiles around the world.