1 Airlines Concentrate On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
Lucie Ventura edited this page 2025-01-10 12:37:42 -08:00


It's bad enough for some prop airplanes to be described as being powered by rubber bands. Now the cynics might start having a dig at commercial airplane flying on whatever from cooking oil to melted algae.

With the civil air travel market under pressure from rising oil prices and environmental legislation, the race is on to find feasible options to conventional kerosene and these so far appear to come down to different types of biofuel.

Not surprisingly, the first trials of alternative fuel were initiated by British air travel pioneer, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic started London to Amsterdam flights with minimal biofuel use in 2008. This was quickly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each utilized different blends of routine 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 curcas is a genus of around 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha jatropha curcas), from the household Euphorbiaceae.

In 2007 Goldman Sachs cited Jatropha jatropha curcas as one of the finest prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to drought and insects, and produces seeds containing 27-40% oil.

Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aerial significant Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation relocated to carry out research study and advancement into the use of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airline companies Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would function as strategic specialists for the task.

The current airline to begin explore new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has actually carried out internal US flights using a blend of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mixture, it is claimed, can cut hazardous emissions by 10%.

One truly motivating development has actually been the relocation far from biofuels which complete head on with food consumers thus preventing a cost spiral. Not so long earlier, a rise in usage of biofuels in cars caused a spike in maize costs as US farmers diverted too much corn to fuel processing.

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 individuals ended up starving just to please another person's green credentials.