It's bad enough for some prop aircrafts to be explained as being powered by elastic band. Now the cynics could begin having a dig at industrial airplane flying on everything from cooking oil to melted algae.
With the civil aviation industry under increasing pressure from rising oil rates and environmental legislation, the race is on to find practical options to standard kerosene and these up until now appear to boil down to various kinds of biofuel.
Not surprisingly, the very first trials of alternative fuel were initiated by British air travel pioneer, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic started London to Amsterdam flights with limited biofuel use in 2008. This was rapidly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each utilized various blends of routine fuel and bio derivatives consisting of some from made from jatropha which can grow in soil considered too poor for growing mainstream foods items.
Jatropha is a genus of around 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the family Euphorbiaceae.
In 2007 Goldman Sachs cited Jatropha curcas as one of the best candidates for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to dry spell 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 moved to bring out research and development into using biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airlines Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would function as strategic experts for the project.
The current airline to begin experimenting with new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has carried out internal US flights utilizing a blend of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mix, it is declared, can cut harmful by 10%.
One really encouraging development has actually been the relocation far from biofuels which compete head on with food consumers consequently preventing a cost spiral. Not so long ago, a rise in usage of biofuels in cars and trucks triggered a spike in maize rates as US farmers diverted excessive 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 mixed true blessing undoubtedly if some individuals ended up starving simply to please somebody else's green qualifications.
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Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
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