It's bad enough for some prop aircrafts to be referred to as being powered by elastic band. Now the cynics could begin having a dig at business aircraft flying on whatever from cooking oil to melted algae.
With the civil air travel industry under increasing pressure from rising oil costs and environmental legislation, the race is on to find practical options to conventional kerosene and these up until now seem to come down to numerous types of biofuel.
Not remarkably, the first trials of alternative fuel were started by British air travel leader, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic began 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 routine fuel and bio derivatives including some from made from jatropha which can grow in soil considered too poor for growing mainstream foods items.
Jatropha is a genus of approximately 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the household Euphorbiaceae.
In 2007 Goldman Sachs cited Jatropha curcas as one of the finest candidates for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to drought and pests, and produces seeds containing 27-40% oil.
Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aeronautical major Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation transferred to perform research and development into using biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airlines Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would function as tactical consultants for the project.
The newest airline company to start experimenting with brand-new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has actually conducted internal US flights using a blend of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mix, it is declared, can cut hazardous emissions by 10%.
One truly motivating development has been the relocation away from biofuels which contend head on with food customers therefore avoiding a rate spiral. Not so long earlier, a surge in use of biofuels in cars and trucks triggered a spike in maize rates as US farmers diverted too much corn to fuel processing.
Hopefully in the future, and drivers will focus biofuel usage on non-food sources such as jatropha and algae. It would be a mixed blessing undoubtedly if some individuals wound up starving just to satisfy another person's green qualifications.
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Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
Brian Smoot edited this page 2025-01-12 03:11:07 +08:00