It's bad enough for some propeller planes to be referred to as being powered by rubber bands. Now the skeptics might begin having a dig at industrial aircraft flying on whatever from to melted algae.
With the civil aviation market under increasing pressure from increasing oil prices and environmental legislation, the race is on to find viable options to conventional kerosene and these so far appear to come down to various types of biofuel.
Not remarkably, the first trials of alternative fuel were started by British aviation leader, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic began London to Amsterdam flights with minimal biofuel usage in 2008. This was rapidly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each used different blends of regular fuel and bio derivatives including some from made from jatropha which can grow in soil considered too bad for growing mainstream foodstuffs.
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 mentioned Jatropha curcas as one of the very best candidates for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to drought and insects, 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 relocated to carry out research study and development into making use of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airline companies Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would act as tactical experts for the project.
The newest airline to start try out brand-new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has actually conducted internal US flights utilizing a blend of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mix, it is declared, can cut damaging emissions by 10%.
One truly motivating development has actually been the move away from biofuels which compete head on with food customers therefore preventing a cost spiral. Not so long earlier, a surge in usage of biofuels in cars triggered a spike in maize prices as US farmers diverted too much corn to fuel processing.
Hopefully in the future, airline companies and motorists will focus biofuel usage on non-food sources such as jatropha curcas and algae. It would be a blended true blessing certainly if some people wound up starving just to please another person's green qualifications.
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Airlines Concentrate On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
Kay Bunning edited this page 2025-01-18 17:37:20 +08:00