1 Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show

Amee Ladd edited this page 2025-01-11 22:05:03 +00:00

By Allison Lampert

LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world's biggest industry show in Las Vegas high-end jets are luring purchasers with their sleek shapes, luxurious cabins - and increasingly, their usage of alternative fuels.

Fuel manufacturers and jetmakers are eager to showcase novel forms of air travel fuel considered less harmful to the climate, from utilized cooking oil to the distinctly less attractive meat waste.

Business jet operators, like airline companies, have bowed to environmental pressure on aviation and committed to cutting in half carbon emissions by 2050 compared to 2005.

Their hope is that adopting eco-friendly fuel to suppress emissions might make company jets more attractive to environmentally mindful buyers - particularly corporations dealing with questions over sustainability from investors or green campaign groups.

The availability of less polluting personal jets could also spare the abundant and popular the negative publicity experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his other half Meghan over a recent personal jet journey to southern France.

Five Gulfstream jets on screen in Las Vegas are using California-produced fuel from inedible beef tallow.

The most recent waste-based fuels consist of "fats, grease and oils that are byproducts of the food market," stated Bryan Sherbacow, primary industrial officer of Boston-based biofuel manufacturer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste used by Gulfstream.

"All of our product is inedible."

Some of the other 79 aircraft on display are expected to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other renewable fuel blends expected to be pumped at the show.

FLIGHT SHAMING

Private jets account for less than 0.1% of overall annual carbon emissions worldwide, but can release, typically, up to 20 times more carbon emissions per traveler mile than jetliners, according to the London-based private charter company Victor.

Prince Harry has protected his periodic usage of personal jets to ensure his household's security, and has said that on the rare occasions he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.

But planemakers say events such as the furore over his itinerary have actually added fresh challenges for an industry already striving to validate its contribution to cutting corporate costs.

"Incidents of flight shaming including making use of private jets are unfortunate when you consider that our industry has delivered fuel efficiency improvements of 40% over the past 40 years," said Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.

Bombardier believes increased sustainable fuel use will assist the industry make inroads with corporations and wealthy buyers. According to market data, billionaires just have a 19% organization jet ownership rate.

But even an image transformation - with jets sporting stickers like "this aircraft flies on eco-friendly fuels" and organisers including alternative fuel pumps for visiting planes - is unlikely to please all critics at the Oct 22-24 high-end jet occasion.

Environmentalists and some experts remain doubtful that biojetfuels, normally combined 50-50 with kerosene, will make a substantial influence on public perceptions about high-end travel.

"No quantity of Jatropha or Brazil-nut fuel can make service jets look eco-friendly," stated air travel Aboulafia.

Demand from company jet operators for renewable fuels now far surpasses supply and their interest might drive future production, Sherbacow stated.

World Energy, which produces 40 million gallons of biofuel at its California plant, might expand production up to 150 million gallons by 2022.

Corporate charter business and specialists are also seeing more interest from clients who desire to buy carbon credits to balance out emissions from their flights.

Brian Proctor, CEO of Mente Group, a U.S. consultancy, said emissions played a function in a corporate jet usage study his company recently finished for a Fortune 500 company.

"At the end of the day, I think that price, cost per hour, variety, speed and efficiency, that's still the (sales) chauffeur. But I believe individuals are ending up being more conscious of the sustainability of operations and how it affects the world." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)