It's bad enough for some prop aircrafts to be explained as being powered by elastic band. Now the skeptics might start having a dig at commercial aircraft flying on everything from cooking oil to liquefied algae.
With the civil air travel market under increasing pressure from rising oil prices and ecological legislation, the race is on to discover feasible alternatives to standard kerosene and these up until now appear to come down to different kinds of .
Not remarkably, the very first trials of alternative fuel were initiated by British aviation leader, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic started London to Amsterdam flights with limited biofuel use in 2008. This was quickly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each used various blends of routine fuel and bio derivatives including some from made from jatropha which can grow in soil thought about too poor for growing mainstream foods items.
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 best prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to drought and pests, and produces seeds containing 27-40% oil.
Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aerial major Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation relocated to perform research study and development into the use of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airline companies Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would function as strategic experts for the job.
The most recent airline to start exploring with brand-new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has actually carried out internal US flights utilizing a mix of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mix, it is declared, can cut harmful emissions by 10%.
One really encouraging advancement has been the move far from biofuels which compete head on with food customers therefore avoiding a price spiral. Not so long ago, a surge in use of biofuels in cars caused a spike in maize costs as US farmers diverted too much corn to fuel processing.
Hopefully in the future, airline companies and drivers will focus biofuel consumption on non-food sources such as jatropha curcas and algae. It would be a mixed blessing undoubtedly if some people wound up starving just to satisfy somebody else's green credentials.
1
Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
Leonard Connah edited this page 2025-01-11 19:41:20 +00:00