It's bad enough for some propeller planes to be referred to as being powered by rubber bands. Now the skeptics could begin having a dig at business aircraft flying on whatever from cooking oil to liquefied algae.
With the civil air travel industry under increasing pressure from rising oil costs and legislation, the race is on to discover viable options to traditional kerosene and these up until now seem to come down to numerous types of biofuel.
Not remarkably, the first trials of alternative fuel were initiated by British aviation pioneer, 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 used various blends of routine fuel and bio derivatives consisting of some from made from jatropha curcas which can grow in soil thought about too bad for growing mainstream foods.
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 mentioned Jatropha curcas as one of the finest 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 significant Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation relocated to perform research and advancement into the usage of 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 most recent airline to begin try out new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has carried out internal US flights using a blend 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 development has actually been the move far from biofuels which compete head on with food consumers therefore avoiding a cost spiral. Not so long ago, a rise in use of biofuels in automobiles caused a spike in maize costs as US farmers diverted too much corn to fuel processing.
Hopefully in the future, airlines and motorists will focus biofuel usage on non-food sources such as jatropha curcas and algae. It would be a blended true blessing certainly if some individuals wound up starving simply to please somebody else's green qualifications.
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Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
Ellis Maclean edited this page 2025-01-18 07:01:57 +08:00