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Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show

Harley Hofmann edited this page 2025-01-13 17:28:05 +00:00

By Allison Lampert

LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world's most significant industry show in Las Vegas luxury jets are enticing buyers with their sleek silhouettes, plush cabins - and progressively, their usage of alternative fuels.

Fuel manufacturers and jetmakers are keen to showcase novel kinds of air travel fuel deemed less harmful to the climate, from used cooking oil to the clearly less glamorous meat waste.

Business jet operators, like airline companies, have bowed to environmental pressure on aviation and dedicated to cutting in half carbon emissions by 2050 compared with 2005.

Their hope is that embracing sustainable fuel to suppress emissions might make business jets more attractive to ecologically mindful purchasers - specifically corporations dealing with questions over sustainability from shareholders or green campaign groups.

The accessibility of less contaminating personal jets might also spare the rich and famous the negative promotion experienced by Harry and his better half Meghan over a recent personal jet journey to southern France.

Five Gulfstream jets on display in Las Vegas are using California-produced fuel from inedible beef tallow.

The most recent waste-based fuels consist of "fats, grease and oils that are byproducts of the food industry," stated Bryan Sherbacow, primary industrial officer of Boston-based biofuel producer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste used by Gulfstream.

"All of our product is inedible."

A few of the other 79 airplane on screen are expected to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other sustainable fuel blends expected to be pumped at the show.

FLIGHT SHAMING

Private jets represent less than 0.1% of overall annual carbon emissions worldwide, but can discharge, on average, up to 20 times more carbon emissions per passenger mile than jetliners, according to the London-based personal charter company Victor.

Prince Harry has protected his occasional usage of private jets to guarantee his household's safety, and has actually stated that on the rare celebrations he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.

But planemakers say events such as the furore over his schedule have added fresh obstacles for an industry currently making every effort to justify its contribution to cutting business costs.

"Incidents of flight shaming including the usage of private jets are regrettable when you consider that our market has actually provided fuel performance enhancements of 40% over the previous 40 years," stated Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.

Bombardier thinks increased sustainable fuel usage will help the industry make inroads with corporations and rich buyers. According to market data, billionaires only have a 19% service jet ownership rate.

But even an image transformation - with jets sporting sticker labels like "this aircraft flies on sustainable fuels" and organisers adding alternative fuel pumps for checking out aircrafts - is not likely to satisfy all critics at the Oct 22-24 luxury jet occasion.

Environmentalists and some experts stay hesitant that biojetfuels, usually blended 50-50 with kerosene, will make a significant impact on public perceptions about high-end travel.

"No quantity of jatropha curcas or Brazil-nut fuel can make organization jets look eco-friendly," stated aviation expert Richard Aboulafia.

Demand from organization jet operators for eco-friendly fuels now far surpasses supply and their interest might drive future production, Sherbacow said.

World Energy, which produces 40 million gallons of biofuel at its California plant, might broaden production approximately 150 million gallons by 2022.

Corporate charter companies and specialists are also seeing more interest from consumers who desire to purchase carbon credits to balance out emissions from their flights.

Brian Proctor, CEO of Mente Group, a U.S. consultancy, stated emissions played a function in a business jet utilization research study his company recently completed for a Fortune 500 company.

"At the end of the day, I believe that price, expense per hour, range, speed and efficiency, that's still the (sales) driver. But I believe people are becoming more mindful of the sustainability of operations and how it impacts the planet." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)