Cleaner Tech

India’s Big Plans for Cleaner Jet Fuel Face a String of Hurdles

  • The scientists are working with companies including Boeing
  • Using seeds and waste will need new logistical systems
A worker observes the bio jet fuel production at The Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Petroleum in Dehradun in Oct.Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg
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At the foothills of the Himalayas, in the city of Dehradun, India’s government is working on a jet fuel it hopes can help clean up the smog hanging over its big cities.

There -- on a sprawling 300 acre tea estate where leopards and deer can be spotted -- scientists are working with partners including Boeing Co. to get global approvals for their biofuel, which is made from waste cooking oil and the seeds of plants like pongamia and jatropha that aren’t consumed.