It's bad enough for some propeller airplanes to be described as being powered by rubber bands. Now the skeptics might start having a dig at commercial airplane flying on whatever from cooking oil to liquefied algae.
With the civil aviation market under increasing pressure from rising oil rates and ecological legislation, the race is on to find feasible alternatives to standard kerosene and these so far appear to boil down to different types of biofuel.
Not surprisingly, the first trials of alternative fuel were started by British air travel leader, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic started London to Amsterdam flights with limited biofuel usage in 2008. This was rapidly 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 is a genus of roughly 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the family Euphorbiaceae.
In 2007 Sachs pointed out Jatropha jatropha curcas as one of the finest prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to drought and bugs, and produces seeds including 27-40% oil.
Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aeronautical significant Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation transferred to carry out research and advancement into making use of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airline companies Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would serve as strategic consultants for the project.
The most current airline company 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 declared, can cut hazardous emissions by 10%.
One truly motivating development has actually been the move away from biofuels which compete head on with food customers thus avoiding a price spiral. Not so long ago, a surge in usage of biofuels in cars triggered a spike in maize costs 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 and algae. It would be a blended true blessing indeed if some people wound up starving simply to satisfy someone else's green qualifications.
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Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
Mark Kennemer edited this page 2025-01-18 13:03:55 +08:00