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.

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Hospital, Sydney, Australia

February 23, 2026

After all our planning for Jeff's next operation and waiting out the days till we arrived in Cairns, Australia, we finally flew to the Sydney airport. It was evening when we got there and both of us were exhausted. We both thought why call an Uber, there are a bunch of taxis hanging around, just take one of them to the motel. That was a mistake. We ended up paying $100 for a 20 minute trip in no traffic. Uber would have been half, I found out later. Since then we have taken several Uber rides in electric cars. And they have been excellent experiences. Australia has been importing Chinese made electric cars. We got to ride in a BYD and Uber drivers like to talk. We conversed with a Japanese driver and an Indian driver, both men. Both had been in Australia about 15 years. They seemed to like being in the big city. Both agreed it is generally too expensive. The driver from Japan, his wife works in the hospital and they have children, he likes the flexibility of the job so he can be involved with school and activities. The Indian driver has a son and would like to return to India so his son can experience his homeland. We are resting at our motel and I am outside watching the wild cockatiels.

Sea days

February 11, 2026

We have several sea days before we arrive again in Cairns, Australia. This means we will not see land for a while. The rhythm of sea days is very different from shore days. There are a variety of activities you can participate in. Almost anything you can imagine is being invented as a result of the variety of people onboard, some of whom want to duplicate the entertainments they enjoyed where they used to live. This is a residential cruise ship so a lot of the passengers are onboard long-term, meaning many months or years or the rest of their lives. The longest stay, if you “buy” your cabin, is 15 years. When Jeff and I bought our cabin that was all that was offered. Now you can buy a cabin for 5 years. Each circumnavigation takes about three and one half years. We are going to try to stay onboard for at least one circumnavigation. Before the sea days began, we visited two of the islands of Tonga. At the first stop, people scuba dived over a reef right next to our ship

French Polynesia, the islands

January 27, 2026

The float of cloud drifts and encircles a mountain leaving just the very top, a pointed witches cap poking through. These islands have the most magnificent mountains. They brood around the harbors, snagging the clouds that pass. No doubt they have inspired fantastic stories. The cloud shadows create chameleon-like changes on mountain surfaces, making them even more expressive than oceans that amuse themselves by hiding what they contain; mountains are hysterical by contrast. Always looking for attention. “Look. Look again!, what about this?” They may hold a pose for a while seeming docile, then you look up and they have disappeared. White mist covers just a grey suggestion, then suddenly black silhouettes like broken giant teeth rise defiantly. So much animation, millions of years after volcanic upheavals shook these mountains from the sea depths.

Notes from Fiji hospital, Oceana Hospital system and Denareau private hospital

January 13, 2026

Medical emergencies all have a similar feeling. Intensity, urgency, a changed perception of time; only events and human encounters progress, time seems warped, unimportant. After several sleepless nights because Jeff was having difficulty peeing and he was beginning to have pain, he went to the onboard clinic to get catheterized. There were three attempts with successively larger catheters. This was painful and distressing for him, though he kept joking about it, “this is not good sex!” The attempts were unsuccessful. He was given pain killers and an ambulance met us at the dock for a 10 minute ambulance ride to the hospital. Jeff is an 80 year old man with an enlarged prostate so he normally has trouble peeing. But this time it stopped altogether and there was blood. We are waiting at the hospital for the urologist. Nurses and a general practitioner have spoken to us in English. Very kind, polite, casual and patient. The urologist arrives and talks with Jeff. He is going to get the operating room ready and put Jeff out. Then he can do the operation. We wait in our curtained off cubicle Jeff is lying on a bed. A woman who came with her husband, who has high blood pressure, is behind the curtain to the left of us. He had collapsed. She is reciting the Lord's Prayer and Hail Marys over and over in an emotional whisper. She is crying. A young man is in the cubicle to our right. He seems to have broken his arm. It is all wrapped up in white gauze. Earlier a man had been stung by something and ointment was applied. A pregnant woman has come in. This is a modest hospital, very basic, two floors. They have what they need. A few flies buzz lazily around, but most are killed by the electric device on the wall. A very slight smell of urine is in the air. We arrived here about 8:30. It is now 2:00. Jeff has had an ultrasound, blood pressure checks and an EKG. Now he is in a wheelchair waiting for the nurse to take him to an operating room. The waiting room has about 10 people waiting. About 50 chairs in all. Not terribly busy for a Saturday. Light and darker coffee colored skin, attractive, rounded features and large expressive eyes set apart the native population. They are only a little curious about us. There is no rushing here.

Green Airports – An Interview with Grazia Zanin and Max Shauck

Hospital, Sydney, Australia

Sea days

French Polynesia, the islands

Notes from Fiji hospital, Oceana Hospital system and Denareau private hospital

Ch 17, South Pacific Countries, islands

Palau

Indonesia

Yap Stone Money, CH 15

Philippines, reflections

Chapter Eighteen - Philippines