It's bad enough for some prop airplanes to be described as being powered by rubber bands. Now the skeptics could begin having a dig at industrial airplane flying on whatever from cooking oil to melted algae.
With the civil air travel industry under increasing pressure from increasing oil costs and environmental legislation, the race is on to find feasible options to standard kerosene and these so far seem to come down to different types of biofuel.
Not surprisingly, the very first trials of alternative fuel were initiated by British aviation pioneer, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic started London to Amsterdam flights with minimal biofuel usage in 2008. This was quickly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each used different 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 items.
jatropha curcas is a genus of roughly 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the household Euphorbiaceae.
In 2007 Goldman Sachs cited Jatropha curcas as one of the best prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to dry spell and bugs, 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 moved to perform research study and development into the usage of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airline companies Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would function as strategic consultants for the job.
The most recent airline to begin experimenting with brand-new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has actually performed internal US flights utilizing a blend of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mix, it is claimed, can cut damaging emissions by 10%.
One actually encouraging advancement has actually been the relocation away from biofuels which compete head on with food consumers therefore preventing a price spiral. Not so long earlier, a rise in usage of biofuels in cars triggered a spike in maize prices as US farmers diverted excessive corn to .
Hopefully in the future, airline companies and vehicle drivers will focus biofuel intake on non-food sources such as jatropha and algae. It would be a blended true blessing undoubtedly if some people ended up starving simply to satisfy someone else's green credentials.
1
Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
leighgates694 edited this page 1 day ago