GE Aviation planning to buy cellulosic biofuel for engine tests

GE Aviation (GE) has announced it has signed an agreement to buy cellulosic biofuel to broaden its fuel sources for jet engine testing.

As of 2016, the Washington DC-based D'Arcinoff Group will supply at least 500,000 gallons of the fuel annually for GE's main testing facility in Ohio.

The 10-year agreement contains options for GE to order up to 10 million gallons of synthetic biofuel a year, equivalent to the amount of jet fuel it currently uses annually at its testing centres. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

D'Arcinoff Group will produce the fuel at a Texas-based facility expected to be in operation in early 2016, according to GE. The jet engine manufacturer will then mix the biofuel in the same storage tanks as those used for traditional jet fuel.

GE has been working with government entities and airlines worldwide to demonstrate various alternative fuels in its engines since 2007.