It's bad enough for some prop planes to be referred to as being powered by rubber bands. Now the cynics could start having a dig at commercial aircraft flying on whatever from cooking oil to melted algae.
With the civil air travel market under increasing pressure from rising oil prices and environmental legislation, the race is on to discover viable options to traditional kerosene and these so far appear to come down to various types of biofuel.
Not remarkably, the first trials of alternative fuel were started by British air travel leader, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic began London to Amsterdam flights with limited biofuel usage in 2008. This was quickly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each utilized various blends of routine fuel and bio derivatives consisting of some from made from jatropha which can grow in soil considered too poor for growing mainstream foods items.
Jatropha is a genus of around 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha jatropha curcas), from the family Euphorbiaceae.
In 2007 Goldman Sachs mentioned Jatropha curcas as one of the finest prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to dry spell and pests, and produces seeds containing 27-40% oil.
Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aeronautical major Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation relocated to perform research and into the usage of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airlines Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would act as tactical specialists for the task.
The most recent airline to begin try out new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has conducted internal US flights using a mix of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mix, it is claimed, can cut hazardous emissions by 10%.
One really encouraging advancement has actually been the relocation away from biofuels which contend head on with food customers consequently avoiding a cost spiral. Not so long back, a rise in usage of biofuels in cars and trucks caused a spike in maize rates as US farmers diverted excessive corn to fuel processing.
Hopefully in the future, airline companies and motorists will focus biofuel usage on non-food sources such as jatropha and algae. It would be a mixed true blessing undoubtedly if some people ended up starving simply to please another person's green qualifications.
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Airlines Concentrate On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
Roger Kinross edited this page 2025-01-12 06:51:58 +00:00