It's bad enough for some prop airplanes to be referred to as being powered by elastic band. Now the cynics could start having a dig at commercial airplane flying on whatever from cooking oil to melted algae.
With the civil air travel market under increasing pressure from increasing oil costs and environmental legislation, the race is on to find viable alternatives to standard kerosene and these up until now seem to boil down to numerous kinds of biofuel.
Not remarkably, the first trials of alternative fuel were initiated by British aviation leader, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic started London to Amsterdam flights with minimal biofuel usage in 2008. This was rapidly 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 thought about too bad for growing mainstream foods items.
jatropha curcas is a genus of around 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha jatropha curcas), from the family Euphorbiaceae.
In 2007 Goldman Sachs pointed out Jatropha curcas as one of the very best prospects for future biodiesel . It is resistant to dry spell 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 moved to perform research and advancement into using biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airline companies Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would act as strategic consultants for the job.
The newest airline to begin try out 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 claimed, can cut harmful emissions by 10%.
One truly encouraging development has been the relocation far from biofuels which complete head on with food customers thereby avoiding a cost spiral. Not so long earlier, a rise in use of biofuels in automobiles caused a spike in maize prices as US farmers diverted excessive corn to fuel processing.
Hopefully in the future, airline companies and vehicle drivers will focus biofuel usage on non-food sources such as jatropha curcas and algae. It would be a blended true blessing indeed if some individuals wound up starving simply to satisfy someone else's green credentials.
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Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
Lanny Forrest edited this page 2025-01-13 10:09:09 +11:00