It's bad enough for some to be explained as being powered by rubber bands. Now the skeptics might begin having a dig at industrial aircraft flying on whatever from cooking oil to melted algae.
With the civil aviation industry under increasing pressure from rising oil prices and ecological legislation, the race is on to find practical options to conventional kerosene and these so far seem to boil down to different types of biofuel.
Not surprisingly, the first trials of alternative fuel were started by British air travel pioneer, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic started London to Amsterdam flights with restricted biofuel usage in 2008. This was quickly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each used various blends of regular fuel and bio derivatives including some from made from jatropha which can grow in soil considered 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 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 dry spell and pests, and produces seeds consisting of 27-40% oil.
Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aeronautical significant Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation transferred to bring out research study and advancement into the use of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airlines Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would act as tactical specialists for the job.
The current airline company to begin try out new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has actually conducted internal US flights utilizing a mix of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mixture, it is claimed, can cut harmful emissions by 10%.
One truly encouraging advancement has been the relocation far from biofuels which contend head on with food consumers therefore preventing a rate spiral. Not so long back, a rise in usage of biofuels in automobiles 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 blended blessing indeed if some individuals wound up starving just to please someone else's green credentials.
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Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
roscoe69h55473 edited this page 2025-01-10 21:05:08 +01:00