It's bad enough for some prop airplanes to be described as being powered by rubber bands. Now the skeptics could start having a dig at commercial airplane flying on whatever from cooking oil to melted algae.
With the civil air travel market under increasing pressure from rising oil costs and ecological legislation, the race is on to discover viable options to and these so far seem to boil down to various types of biofuel.
Not remarkably, the very first trials of alternative fuel were initiated by British air travel pioneer, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic started London to Amsterdam flights with minimal biofuel use in 2008. This was quickly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each utilized various blends of regular fuel and bio derivatives consisting of some from made from jatropha which can grow in soil considered too bad for growing mainstream foods.
jatropha curcas is a genus of approximately 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the family Euphorbiaceae.
In 2007 Goldman Sachs pointed out Jatropha curcas as one of the finest prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to drought and pests, and produces seeds including 27-40% oil.
Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aerial major Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation moved to perform research study and advancement into the use of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airlines Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would serve as strategic specialists for the project.
The newest airline to start try out brand-new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has conducted internal US flights using a blend of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mix, it is claimed, can cut harmful emissions by 10%.
One really encouraging development has actually been the relocation away from biofuels which complete head on with food consumers therefore preventing a price spiral. Not so long earlier, a rise in use of biofuels in cars and trucks triggered a spike in maize prices as US farmers diverted excessive corn to fuel processing.
Hopefully in the future, airline companies and vehicle drivers will focus biofuel consumption on non-food sources such as jatropha and algae. It would be a blended blessing indeed if some individuals wound up starving just to satisfy another person's green credentials.
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Airlines Concentrate On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
Autumn Valentine edited this page 2025-01-17 19:41:05 +00:00