It's bad enough for some propeller aircrafts to be referred to as being powered by elastic band. Now the skeptics might begin having a dig at industrial aircraft flying on everything from cooking oil to melted algae.
With the civil aviation market under increasing pressure from increasing oil rates and ecological legislation, the race is on to discover practical alternatives to conventional kerosene and these up until now appear to boil down to numerous types of biofuel.
Not surprisingly, the first trials of alternative fuel were initiated 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 different blends of regular fuel and bio derivatives including 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 mentioned Jatropha curcas as one of the finest prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to drought and insects, and produces seeds including 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 using biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airlines Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would function as tactical experts for the job.
The most recent airline to start explore brand-new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has conducted internal US flights utilizing a blend of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mixture, it is claimed, can cut damaging emissions by 10%.
One really motivating development has been the move far from biofuels which contend head on with food consumers therefore avoiding a price spiral. Not so long ago, a rise in usage of biofuels in automobiles triggered a spike in maize rates as US farmers diverted corn to fuel processing.
Hopefully in the future, airline companies and vehicle drivers will focus biofuel usage on non-food sources such as jatropha and algae. It would be a blended true blessing indeed if some people wound up starving just to satisfy someone else's green qualifications.
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Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
Amee Ladd edited this page 2025-01-12 09:58:36 +00:00