Camelina is increasingly heralded as a strategic sustainable biofuels crop that can be scaled up to meet aviation bio jet fuel needs.

With successful test flights using Camelina-based fuels in 2009, such as the Dutch Airliner KLM test flight (Chapter 19), this oilseed energy crop is positioned for rapid growth in the years ahead. What, however, are the industry and agri­culture drivers behind the Camelina story?

Jet fuel has traditionally been the airlines’ second-highest operating expense, exceeded only by labor costs. Recent oil price increases have now made jet fuel the single largest expense.

The main characteristics of Camelina are:

• Camelina can improve the productivity and value of low-rainfall, non-irrigated wheat farms by replacing summer fallow rotations.

• Camelina oil can be processed into a drop-in jet fuel that fits into the conventional petroleum infrastructure. It can reduce biofuel transportation costs, and improve biofuel economics and renewable energy profitability.

• Camelina has potential to be a large-scale and low-cost, sustainable biofuel feedstock for both biodiesel and aviation end markets.

• There are opportunities to add value and generate profits at nearly every link in the farm-to-fuel Camelina supply chain.

• With careful planning, consideration of risks, and insight into Camelina market growth rates and forecasts, Camelina presents many possible business oppor­tunities, including opportunities to generate additional farm revenues and create renewable energy jobs.

• Second generation biofuels like camelina can empower the massive fleet of warplanes, vehicles and tanks of the US Department of Defense (DOD), which wants 25 percent of its liquid fuel needs to come from biofuels by 2025. Currently, liquid petroleum fuels account for 75 percent of DOD’s $15 billion annual energy bill. A major part of the DOD’s clean energy investment involves increasing the military’s use of plant-based biofuels, which could mean big opportunities for camelina.

Camelina refined into bio-derived synthetic paraffinic kerosene (Bio-SPK) was also used for a portion of the fuel in the 2009 Japan Air Lines test flight. On 4 August 2009, the Boeing U787 Unlimited Hydroplane made several successful runs on 100% Camelina-derived jet fuel. Claims were made that emissions were 80% less than with petroleum jet fuel.

Camelina plants are heavily branched, growing from 0.3 to 3 meters tall and pro­ducing seed pods containing many small, oily seeds. The seeds are very small, amounting to about 880 000 seeds/kg, and they are 40% oil, compared with 20% with soybeans. An annual that originated in Northern Europe, Camelina has many names: gold-of-pleasure, false flax, and wild flax. Camelina can grow on land unsui­table for food crops. It has yields that are roughly double that of soy. It tolerates cold climates well, and it has been grown for years in pockets of Montana and Oregon.

It grows wild in the United States and does not interfere with other crops. It has a particularly attractive concentration of m-3 fatty acids that make Camelina meal, left over after crushing, a particularly fine livestock feed candidate that is just now gaining recognition in the United States and Canada. The emerging green fuel industry is turning Camelina into a lucrative new cash crop for farmers. The seeds are easily crushed with the oil being used for biofuel that performs similar to biofuel from other sources, but can be more efficient. Camelina is planted in March and harvested in late July most years, even in Northern climates. This short breeding period is financially a huge advantage versus Jatropha. With Camelina an investor sees a return on his capital within six month after harvesting. An investor in Jatropha has to wait five years before a first meaningful quantity of oil can be harvested. Only then he reaps the benefits of an investment in jatropha plantations. Camelina can survive on little water: it thrives in areas with 25-42 cm rainfall and it requires less fertilizer than many other crops. However, it still requires management. Farmers who have followed a wheat-fallow pattern, as is often seen in Washington and Oregon, can switch to a wheat-Camelina-wheat pattern and realize up to 100 gallons of Camelina oil per acre.

In Europe, Camelina grows well in Finland. Finnish farmers call it "the olive oil from Finland.”

When analyzing the potential role of a new crop, unique attributes of that species must be established; it must contribute something not already provided by existing crop species. It is not sufficient, for example, for a crop simply to become "another oilseed.” There must be unique and compelling properties of that crop to provide incentives for further development. Camelina is an ideal crop to grow in colder climates like in the north of China in the Xinjiang region or in Mongolia, where vast tracks of land are available.

4.4.4