Green Airports – An Interview with Grazia Zanin and Max Shauck

Jeff & Susan • January 3, 2015

In the late 1970s and early1980’s Max Shauck was experimenting with developing airplane engines to fly on ethanol fuel. He was also test flying these planes with engines he had modified for ethanol. He was motivated and inspired by the effects of the Arab oil embargo of the 70’s (gas rationing, lines at stations, etc.) Ethanol could be made regardless of the Arabs. So he started experimenting with it. Max was running a flight school at this time and also doing air pollution research. While testing engines on ethanol he crashed many times but learned ‘the hard way,’ as he says. He made the process better and better over time, did some cross country flights and went further and further. He was flying on ethanol made from waste chocolate at the time and got the nick name “Candy Man”. Ethanol is naturally high in octane, without the lead which provides the high octane in aviation fuels now (they are gas based). This makes ethanol a superior fuel for airplanes, both economically and environmentally. Aviation fuel made from ethanol would be half as expensive as the gas based fuel presently used in airplanes. Making ethanol aviation fuel from waste products would be economical.

In 1989, Max Shauch and co pilot Grazia Zanin made the historic flight from the coast of North America across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe in an experimental plane fueled with only ethanol. They were awarded the Harman trophy for this feat of, carefully calculated and planned, aeronautics bravery. With this flight, they proved that ethanol is a viable, dependable fuel for airplanes. As a result, first agricultural planes were certified by the FAA to use ethanol. Second, the Cessna 152, a common ‘training’ plane was certified. The main obstacle for these newly certified planes was ‘getting the fuel’. They need to operate from one field. Take off and return to the same field, so that they could refuel. Not every airport had the ethanol fuel. This is when Max and Grazia started thinking about a Green Airport. They want to start a small green airport as a model for others. By 2004 they had five 152s converted to ethanol and were looking for a good location for the green airport project. They had two disappointing starts in the Dominican Republic then finally placed three ethanol planes in a major airport there and started training 20 students in those planes. Eventually these project stalled also. Next they looked into possibilities in Puerto Rico. Here, financial resources were not available. But the dream is still alive and they are now looking at small airports in Florida and Texas. They have not given up.

The vision of the Green Airport goes something like this. First, the flight training will be on locally produced ethanol. Second, photovoltaic energy runs the student housing. Third, a theme park for educational purposes. The whole project would be ‘off grid’. Private and commercial pilots could be trained there. Finally, Max and Grazia see ethanol aviation fuel as a transition to an even more economical and environmental fuel, solar powered air planes. This, they say, is the ‘next step’.

CLICK HERE to listen to the interview on Bridges Programming.

June 30, 2025
Hawaii, 6/1/25. Part 1
June 23, 2025
The right to not starve, the right to have shelter, the right to be treated for curable illness, the right to not be ignorant. Humanity, over many years of civilization, has created solutions for all these and can provide them, Worldwide. Freedom of speech and freedom of religion (which is essentially freedom of speech) are not enough. To make the “pursuit of happiness” a real possibility a person must have the other four human rights, food, shelter, healthcare and education. It does not take a “rocket scientist” to figure out how to pay for and distribute these rights. We can use our representation for value, money, any way we wish. The way money flows now is the classic pattern that we all are born into and must use. Basically it is capitalism. The market is moved by profit. Only peripherally does preservation of humanity or limited natural resources come into view. Normally there has to be an emergency for this to happen; a war, weather disasters or a pandemic. When the workforce is reduced or resources made scarce. This is not a sustainable situation. It can last for a long time, as it has, but it is always in the slow process of destroying itself. Like the nightmare cliff dropping away behind you as you run. We have the solution in our hands: a Parallel Currency. It will not make everyone honest, kind or generous. But it will keep people from starvation, illness, ignorance and homelessness. Humanity will no longer be enslaved by the more destructive side effects of capitalism. A Parallel Currency is used just for the four basic needs. It is available to everyone from birth until death. When the Parallel Currency arrives at banks it is destroyed so it cannot behave like regular currency and be invested or saved; which can cause inflation. Parallel Currency is only used to provide education, food, shelter and medical care, it is a closed loop. Other currencies will continue to function as usual. Individuals can make as much money as they wish for whatever they wish. The difference is that they will not be depriving other people of their ability to survive. We have the communication, organizing and distribution tool already; the Internet. Locating, assembling, and distributing all the parts necessary for this objective is possible with our information technology. With the development of AI organizIng the Parallel Currency is even more easily done. We will start by paying for these rights but as time passes it will become obvious that this is advantageous to everyone and to our planet's health and like freedom of speech, we won't have to pay for it anymore, with money or blood. Susan Caumont June, 2025
June 2, 2025
Mexico, 5/5/25.
May 27, 2025
“It is soulless, exploitive, inequitable, unstable and destructive, yet also all- conquering and overwhelming.” Capitalism and its Critics: A History from the Industrial Revolution to AI By John Cassidy This is one of the best descriptions of Capitalism I have read recently. The only thing it leaves out is that Capitalism regularly destroys itself and has to be rescued with huge infusions of human labor (money). But Capitalism is so appealing to humans that it is allowed to continually transform and conform to new demands and circumstances, even though it is inherently unstable and destructive. Like the charming self destructive uncle who is so entertaining with his stories and wild money making schemes, no one wants him to stop. It is so much fun! For a few people. And all it takes is a few people to keep Capitalism going, approximately ten percent of the World population, the richest ten percent. That Capitalism has lasted and spread is testimony to its ability to keep adapting and improving on its main strengths: soullessness and exploitation. As a species we have become, over approximately 500 years, completely adapted to Capitalism. No matter what it distorts, destroys or lays waste to, it has captured our imaginations like a religion. We won't be saying goodbye to it anytime soon. But there is an antidote. We can make up for some of its most destructive symptoms with a Parallel Currency that is used only for basic human needs, food, shelter, education and healthcare, Worldwide. Some countries are already trying to do this with their tax structures and laws but a Parallel Currency would do this without taxation or inflation. It is a separate currency that can only be used to provide basic needs and is destroyed when it reaches a bank; it will not create inflation. It also will not inhibit the positive capabilities of existing currencies. They will continue to function as they usually do. The Parallel Currency is a closed loop created for the dignified survival of humanity. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion are not enough. A government by the people and for the people must also guarantee freedom from starvation, ignorance and curable illness, all things as a human species, over thousands of years, we have developed remedies.
May 13, 2025
Columbia, Cartegena, Columbia 4/21/25
A black and white pencil drawing of a little girl in a dress.
May 6, 2025
“The path of least resistance.” (The path of the most loot.)  Bonarais 4/13/25 “Island of the giants,” was the name the Spanish gave to Bonarais in the 1400’s because the native people were so tall. The prehistoric people of southwest Florida, the Calusas, were exceptionally tall also. Maybe the earliest sailing explorers? We are watching as they are unloading a container ship on the finger dock near where we are tied on. Four people halt its sway as it dangles from a crane and approaches the ground. A flatbed truck is already there, the container is placed and driven away. Repeat, repeat, again, again. An island has to import most of its needs. Bonarais is like a village of beautiful doll houses. The Dutch who were historically of colonial dominance, after they drove the Spanish out, and still maintain significant influence, designed the buildings with color and form that reminds them of their homeland. Pastel orange, yellow, and turquoise structures with contrasting gingerbread eves, cafe's where locals sit outside with coffee and converse in Dutch. The children eat ice cream. Very civilized, unhurried, no garbage.
April 25, 2025
The question is not, “ How do you pay for it?” The question is, “ What do you want to pay for?” We finally boarded the ship in Barbados 4/7/25.
A woman is holding a baby and a little girl
March 13, 2025
Explore women’s impact on the economy and the concept of a parallel currency. Learn how these ideas shape sustainability and equitable financial systems.
More Posts