It's bad enough for some prop aircrafts to be described as being powered by elastic band. Now the cynics could begin having a dig at commercial aircraft flying on everything from cooking oil to liquefied algae.
With the civil air travel market under increasing pressure from increasing oil prices and ecological legislation, the race is on to find viable alternatives to traditional kerosene and these so far seem to come down to different kinds of biofuel.
Not surprisingly, the very first trials of alternative fuel were started by British air travel pioneer, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic began London to Amsterdam flights with restricted biofuel usage in 2008. This was quickly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each used various blends of routine fuel and bio derivatives consisting of some from made from jatropha which can grow in soil thought about too poor for growing mainstream foods.
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 cited Jatropha jatropha curcas as one of the very best candidates for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to dry spell and pests, and produces seeds including 27-40% oil.
Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aeronautical major Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation relocated to bring out research study and development into the use of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airline companies Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would serve as strategic experts for the task.
The latest airline to begin try out new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has actually conducted internal US flights utilizing a mix of 80 % fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mixture, it is declared, can cut hazardous emissions by 10%.
One really motivating advancement has actually been the move away from biofuels which contend head on with food customers consequently avoiding a rate spiral. Not so long back, a rise in usage of biofuels in automobiles triggered a spike in maize costs as US farmers diverted excessive corn to fuel processing.
Hopefully in the future, airline companies and vehicle drivers will focus biofuel intake on non-food sources such as jatropha curcas and algae. It would be a blended true blessing indeed if some individuals ended up starving just to please somebody else's green credentials.
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Airlines Concentrate On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
Inez Huie edited this page 2025-01-12 07:02:31 +01:00