It's bad enough for some prop airplanes to be referred to as being powered by rubber bands. Now the skeptics could begin having a dig at business aircraft flying on everything from cooking oil to liquefied algae.
With the civil aviation industry under increasing pressure from oil rates and ecological legislation, the race is on to find viable alternatives to conventional kerosene and these up until now seem to boil down to various types of biofuel.
Not surprisingly, the very first trials of alternative fuel were started by British aviation pioneer, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic began London to Amsterdam flights with limited 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 curcas 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 mentioned Jatropha curcas as one of the best candidates for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to drought and insects, and produces seeds containing 27-40% oil.
Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aerial major Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation transferred to perform research and advancement into the use of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airlines Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would function as strategic experts for the job.
The most recent airline company to start 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 mix, it is claimed, can cut hazardous emissions by 10%.
One truly encouraging development has been the move away from biofuels which complete head on with food customers consequently preventing a rate spiral. Not so long ago, a surge in use of biofuels in cars and trucks caused a spike in maize prices as US farmers diverted too much corn to fuel processing.
Hopefully in the future, airlines and drivers will focus biofuel consumption on non-food sources such as jatropha curcas and algae. It would be a mixed true blessing indeed if some people wound up starving simply to satisfy another person's green credentials.
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Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
dellahorowitz4 edited this page 2025-01-12 05:17:00 +00:00