It's bad enough for some propeller airplanes to be explained as being powered by elastic band. Now the cynics could start having a dig at business airplane flying on everything from cooking oil to melted algae.
With the civil aviation industry under increasing pressure from rising oil costs and ecological legislation, the race is on to discover feasible alternatives to conventional kerosene and these so far appear to boil down to various types of biofuel.
Not surprisingly, the first trials of alternative fuel were started by British air travel pioneer, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic began London to Amsterdam flights with minimal biofuel use in 2008. This was rapidly 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 bad for growing mainstream foods.
Jatropha is a genus of roughly 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the household Euphorbiaceae.
In 2007 Goldman Sachs pointed out Jatropha curcas as one of the finest 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 aerial significant Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation relocated to perform research study and advancement into the usage of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airlines Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would serve as tactical consultants for the task.
The most recent airline company to begin experimenting with brand-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 mixture, it is declared, can cut hazardous emissions by 10%.
One truly encouraging advancement has been the relocation far from biofuels which compete head on with food customers consequently avoiding a price spiral. Not so long earlier, a surge in usage of biofuels in automobiles triggered a spike in as US farmers diverted excessive 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 mixed true blessing certainly if some people wound up starving simply to please another person's green qualifications.
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Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
Kendall Bagshaw edited this page 2025-01-11 13:49:52 +01:00