It's bad enough for some prop aircrafts to be described as being powered by rubber bands. Now the skeptics could begin having a dig at business airplane flying on everything from cooking oil to liquefied algae.
With the civil air travel market under from increasing oil costs and environmental legislation, the race is on to find viable alternatives to conventional kerosene and these so far seem to come down to numerous types of biofuel.
Not remarkably, the first trials of alternative fuel were started by British aviation leader, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic began London to Amsterdam flights with minimal biofuel use in 2008. This was quickly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each used different blends of regular fuel and bio derivatives consisting of some from made from jatropha which can grow in soil considered too poor for growing mainstream foods.
Jatropha is a genus of approximately 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha jatropha curcas), from the family Euphorbiaceae.
In 2007 Goldman Sachs cited Jatropha jatropha curcas as one of the very best prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to dry spell and insects, and produces seeds containing 27-40% oil.
Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aeronautical major Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation transferred to perform research study and advancement into using biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airline companies Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would serve as strategic experts for the job.
The most current airline to begin try out new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has conducted internal US flights utilizing a blend of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mix, it is declared, can cut damaging emissions by 10%.
One really motivating advancement has actually been the move away from biofuels which compete head on with food consumers thus preventing a price spiral. Not so long ago, a surge in use of biofuels in cars and trucks triggered a spike in maize rates as US farmers diverted excessive corn to fuel processing.
Hopefully in the future, airlines and vehicle drivers will focus biofuel intake on non-food sources such as jatropha and algae. It would be a combined blessing undoubtedly if some individuals ended up starving just to satisfy somebody else's green qualifications.
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Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
Ericka Provost edited this page 2025-01-12 04:20:05 +01:00