It's bad enough for some prop airplanes to be referred to as being powered by rubber bands. Now the cynics could start having a dig at business aircraft flying on everything 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 discover feasible options to conventional kerosene and these so far seem to boil down to various kinds of biofuel.
Not surprisingly, the first trials of alternative fuel were started by British air travel leader, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic started London to Amsterdam flights with minimal biofuel use in 2008. This was quickly followed by and Air New Zealand who each utilized different blends of regular fuel and bio derivatives consisting of some from made from jatropha curcas which can grow in soil considered too poor for growing mainstream foods.
jatropha curcas is a genus of approximately 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 very best prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to drought and bugs, and produces seeds consisting of 27-40% oil.
Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aerial major Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation transferred to perform research study and advancement into using biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airline companies Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would act as tactical specialists for the job.
The newest airline company to start explore new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has performed 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 really motivating development has been the move far from biofuels which compete head on with food consumers thus preventing a cost spiral. Not so long ago, a rise in usage of biofuels in cars and trucks triggered a spike in maize costs as US farmers diverted too much corn to fuel processing.
Hopefully in the future, airline companies and motorists will focus biofuel intake on non-food sources such as jatropha and algae. It would be a mixed true blessing undoubtedly if some individuals ended up starving just to satisfy another person's green credentials.
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Airlines Concentrate On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
maritzavrooman edited this page 2025-01-17 21:00:16 +00:00