It's bad enough for some prop planes to be explained as being powered by elastic band. Now the cynics might begin having a dig at flying on whatever from cooking oil to liquefied algae.
With the civil air travel industry under increasing pressure from increasing oil rates and ecological legislation, the race is on to find viable alternatives to conventional kerosene and these up until now seem to boil down to numerous kinds of biofuel.
Not surprisingly, the first trials of alternative fuel were started by British aviation pioneer, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic began London to Amsterdam flights with minimal biofuel use in 2008. This was rapidly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each utilized different blends of regular 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 approximately 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the family Euphorbiaceae.
In 2007 Goldman Sachs pointed out Jatropha jatropha curcas as one of the very best candidates for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to dry spell and insects, and produces seeds containing 27-40% oil.
Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aerial major Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation transferred to carry out research study and advancement into the usage of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airline companies Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would act as tactical specialists for the task.
The most recent airline company to begin explore new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has actually performed internal US flights utilizing a mix of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mixture, it is claimed, can cut hazardous emissions by 10%.
One really motivating advancement has been the relocation far from biofuels which contend head on with food customers thereby preventing a rate spiral. Not so long earlier, a rise in usage of biofuels in vehicles caused 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 consumption on non-food sources such as jatropha curcas and algae. It would be a blended true blessing indeed if some individuals ended up starving simply to please someone else's green credentials.
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Airlines Concentrate On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
Vaughn Gass edited this page 2025-01-18 08:11:56 +08:00