It's bad enough for some prop aircrafts to be referred to as being powered by rubber bands. Now the skeptics could start having a dig at industrial airplane flying on everything from cooking oil to liquefied algae.
With the civil air travel industry under increasing pressure from rising oil costs and ecological legislation, the race is on to discover practical options to standard kerosene and these so far seem to come down to various types of biofuel.
Not remarkably, the very first trials of alternative fuel were started by British aviation leader, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic started London to Amsterdam flights with limited biofuel use in 2008. This was quickly followed by Lufthansa and Air New who each used different blends of regular fuel and bio derivatives including some from made from jatropha curcas which can grow in soil considered too poor 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 cited Jatropha curcas as one of the best prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to drought 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 transferred to carry out research and advancement into using biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airlines Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would function as tactical experts for the project.
The most recent airline company to start experimenting with brand-new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has actually performed internal US flights utilizing 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 advancement has actually been the move far from biofuels which complete head on with food consumers therefore preventing a cost spiral. Not so long ago, a surge in usage of biofuels in automobiles triggered a spike in maize rates as US farmers diverted too much corn to fuel processing.
Hopefully in the future, airlines and drivers will focus biofuel usage on non-food sources such as jatropha curcas and algae. It would be a combined blessing undoubtedly if some people wound up starving just to satisfy another person's green qualifications.
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Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
Yvonne Clouse edited this page 2025-01-14 19:06:39 +03:00