It's bad enough for some propeller planes to be referred to as being powered by rubber bands. Now the cynics could start having a dig at business airplane flying on everything from cooking oil to liquefied algae.
With the civil air travel market under increasing pressure from increasing oil rates and ecological legislation, the race is on to discover practical alternatives to traditional kerosene and these so far appear to come down to different types of biofuel.
Not surprisingly, the very first trials of alternative fuel were initiated by British aviation pioneer, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic began London to Amsterdam flights with limited 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 thought about too bad for growing mainstream foods items.
Jatropha is a genus of around 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the household Euphorbiaceae.
In 2007 Goldman Sachs mentioned Jatropha curcas as one of the very best candidates for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to dry spell and bugs, and produces seeds containing 27-40% oil.
Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aerial significant Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation moved to carry out research and advancement into the use of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airlines Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would act as tactical consultants for the job.
The most recent airline to start explore new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has performed internal US flights using a mix of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from . This mix, it is claimed, can cut harmful emissions by 10%.
One actually motivating development has been the relocation far from biofuels which compete head on with food consumers thus avoiding a cost spiral. Not so long earlier, a surge in use of biofuels in automobiles triggered a spike in maize rates as US farmers diverted too much corn to fuel processing.
Hopefully in the future, airline companies and vehicle drivers will focus biofuel intake on non-food sources such as jatropha curcas and algae. It would be a blended blessing indeed if some people wound up starving just to please somebody else's green qualifications.
1
Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
Rachelle Simpson edited this page 2025-01-14 01:17:59 +01:00