Coconut oil jet fuel matches kerosene's efficiency in engine tests • Hacker News Board

Re: Coconut oil jet fuel matches kerosene's efficiency in engine tests

#211

Post by lazide » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 10:01 AM UTC

landl0rd wrote: post #67

This isn't proper SAF, it's basically C8/10 biodiesel. No aromatics which is one of the perennial problems with SAF, due not just to volumetric energy density but nitrile seals not swelling enough. Integral wing tank seals usually expect aromatic exposure also. This is why some of the catalytic routes/CHJ are of greater interest, cycloparaffins/napthenes recover some of this vs a more biodiesel-ish blend, but even 50…

Why can’t they synthesize aromatics too? they’re usually shorter chain, seems like they should be easier if nothing else?

Re: Coconut oil jet fuel matches kerosene's efficiency in engine tests

#212

Post by snayan » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 10:12 AM UTC

b112 wrote: post #90

stevenwoo wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NAFTA and successive treaties forced Mexico to allow much cheaper corn from the USA to displace many smaller corn farms in Mexico, only larger farms could survive that and farming of corn is declining in Mexico. Also inexpensive processed food displaced traditional diet goods at the same time for the same reasons, probably contributing to obesity epidemic that only started in Mexico after those treaties.

Likely, and then... after Mexican farms went out of business, they added biofuels, the price spiked, and Mexico had no domestic corn people could buy. It's sort of what they want for Canada. They keep trying to attack our protected agricultural sectors, and no sane country doesn't protect their food supply. Amusingly, they want 10% of our dairy market (as a start), and they already have a few percent. Yet we're 1/10t…

Yeah, but our dairy quota system is kinda fucked imo. We've created a market where the quotas are estimated to be worth somewhere between 40-45 billion. This financialization and the fact that banks have leant heavily against the quotas is part of the reason we're unwilling to move on this aspect in negotiation imo.

I'm not saying that there's not value of protecting our food supply. But, in an affordability crisis, kinda feels this should be on the table for discussion given our supply chain management costs the average consumer an extra $250 a year or so.

Re: Coconut oil jet fuel matches kerosene's efficiency in engine tests

#213

Post by pajko » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 10:31 AM UTC

ecshafer wrote: post #162

panny wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it's time to stop burning food as fuel. What are the jets going to do anyway, bomb Iranian children? Remember when George W Bush signed into law the corn ethanol bill. Corn tripled in price within 8 years. Fuel didn't get cheaper. In fact it cost more to produce the ethanol.

Ethanol was always a political thing, and not technical. It was passed because it would triple the price of corn.

Not just corn. Farmers would grow more corn in place of other plants reducing the supply, and shorter supply generally means higher prices, This is happening in India right now.

Re: Coconut oil jet fuel matches kerosene's efficiency in engine tests

#214

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 10:33 AM UTC

brikym wrote: post #183

dofm wrote: post #111

So we can't have the dark chocolate Bounty bar anymore but we can use coconuts to fuel planes? This isn't the future I want.

They've already got coconut content down to 20% but I'm sure the food scientists are working on the next iteration; A new low calorie environmentally friendly 'fun size', '3-for-1' bounty containing bleached cellulose flakes, synthetic coconut flavor and hydrogenated seed oil.

[deleted]

Re: Coconut oil jet fuel matches kerosene's efficiency in engine tests

#215

Post by euroderf » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 11:41 AM UTC

chr15m wrote: post #188

Around one million coconuts required to fly from Tokyo to Los Angeles. Around 40 million flights per year. 40 trillion coconuts required for all flights, or 1000x current production. To scale up coconut production we need 12 billion hectares, or 80% of the Earth's surface for coconut trees. We need 100k cubic km of water per year, or twice the renewable fresh water on this planet. Ok cool. We will need to terraform M…

Hey Alexa, change all paperclip production to coconut production.

Re: Coconut oil jet fuel matches kerosene's efficiency in engine tests

#216

Post by dofm » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 12:06 PM UTC

brikym wrote: post #183

dofm wrote: post #111

So we can't have the dark chocolate Bounty bar anymore but we can use coconuts to fuel planes? This isn't the future I want.

They've already got coconut content down to 20% but I'm sure the food scientists are working on the next iteration; A new low calorie environmentally friendly 'fun size', '3-for-1' bounty containing bleached cellulose flakes, synthetic coconut flavor and hydrogenated seed oil.

I will not be trying that though. Dark chocolate or bust.

In the post-apocalyptic future I will be the guy roaming the wastelands, armed to the teeth, seeking out rumoured stashes of Jamesons Raspberry Ruffles and those Roobar things.

Re: Coconut oil jet fuel matches kerosene's efficiency in engine tests

#217

Post by JoeAltmaier » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 12:14 PM UTC

chr15m wrote: post #189

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #123

50 MTons of coconut oil are produced per year (approximately). Is this a significant amount, compared to oil derived from crude (where gas currently comes from).

No. Around 3.5 million tonnes of coconut oil per year. Around 4.5 billion tonnes of fossil fuel oil per year.

Thanks - I was using the wrong table, total coconut or something.

Re: Coconut oil jet fuel matches kerosene's efficiency in engine tests

#218

Post by jmorenoamor » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 2:10 PM UTC

Using food as fuel is not a good idea.

Re: Coconut oil jet fuel matches kerosene's efficiency in engine tests

#219

Post by triceratops » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 2:26 PM UTC

runako wrote: post #177

triceratops wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Remember that it would also have to stop along the way Why? > Highly dependent on the individual & service class. There are flights that offer lie-flat seats for most of the passengers on board? I have to confess I haven't ever seen any domestic flights in North America that have lie-flat seats. But maybe I'm just poor. > But the point of this is you're actually physically there in less time. And more tired when yo…

> Why? Because (ignoring the middle of the continent for a moment) "LA" is actually a very large area where having a single stop erases many of the advantages cited for trains. LA does not really have the sort of city center of most train-centric cities, and LA has poor public transit. On the other end, "NYC" has the same property, mostly because you would want to include people from other parts of the densely-popula…

If we're talking about a replacement or alternative for flying between NY and LA, a non-stop train makes perfect sense. Planes don't stop. A high-speed train can carry more passengers than a 737.

Re: Coconut oil jet fuel matches kerosene's efficiency in engine tests

#220

Post by WarmWash » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 2:39 PM UTC

qdog wrote: post #200

tolien wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This canard again [0]? You're comparing one piece of beef with a massive bag of Doritos. The banana's irrelevant, but last time you compared it to an enormous block of chocolate [1]. From experience a microwave meal should take about 3 minutes to cook so I don't know how you're taking more than 10 minutes unless, like your food item comparisons, you're cooking enough of them to feed an entire town. 0: https://news.yc…

This is possibly the craziest goddamn conversation I've ever seen on HN. Michalena's swedish meatballs are like $1.50 for 350 calories[0]. It's been a while since college, but I would guess they are delicious when compared to Walter's shoe-leather brand steak. Mac-n-cheese of various offbrands also cheap, and potato flakes ridiculously cheap. Marie Callender and Stouffer's are not cheap, they are convenient. Steak ta…

A pound of fresh ground pork is ~$1.25 and it's 1100 calories.

Throw in all the other stuff to make the swedish meatballs and you are coming out way ahead.

The "poor tax" in processed food is that they are paying double to triple the underlying food cost to have someone else make the food for them.

I'm confident that if you meal prepped Swedish meatballs, you would be able to make something 10x healthier for 1/3 the cost. Even at a "rock bottom" $1.50 per meatball package.