The University of North Dakota Energy and Environmental Research Center has been awarded a $765,000 contract from the Federal Aviation Administration to optimize and develop the specifications for aviation-grade ethanol fuel. This fuel can be utilized in Piper, Cirrus and Cessna aircraft. "We burn 532,000 gallons of aviation gas annually," said Bruce Smith, Dean, John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences. "With estimates showing that this fuel can be as much as 50 cents less per gallon than our current aviation gas, switching to aviation ethanol will create important savings."

Potential benefits of aviation ethanol include the fact that it is lead-free, its high octane content provides more power than standard aviation gasoline and it causes less engine wear than aviation gas, allowing longer time between engine overhauls.