It's bad enough for some propeller airplanes to be described as being powered by rubber bands. Now the cynics might begin having a dig at business aircraft flying on everything from cooking oil to melted algae.
With the civil aviation industry under increasing pressure from rising oil rates and ecological legislation, the race is on to discover viable alternatives to conventional kerosene and these up until now appear to come down to different types of biofuel.
Not remarkably, 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 restricted biofuel usage 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 which can grow in soil thought about too bad 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 jatropha curcas as one of the very best prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to drought and insects, and produces seeds including 27-40% oil.
Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aerial significant Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation relocated to carry out research and advancement into making use of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airline companies Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would function as tactical consultants for the task.
The current airline company to start explore new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has carried out internal US flights utilizing a mix of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. 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 customers therefore avoiding a cost spiral. Not so long ago, a surge in usage of biofuels in cars and trucks triggered 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 usage on non-food sources such as jatropha and algae. It would be a combined blessing undoubtedly if some people wound up starving simply to please somebody else's green qualifications.
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Airlines Concentrate On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
Marissa Shipman edited this page 2 months ago