1 Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show

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By Allison Lampert

LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world's greatest market show in Las Vegas luxury jets are enticing buyers with their sleek silhouettes, plush cabins - and progressively, their usage of alternative fuels.

Fuel producers and jetmakers are eager to showcase novel kinds of air travel fuel deemed less harmful to the environment, from oil to the clearly less attractive meat waste.

Business jet operators, like airlines, have acquiesced environmental pressure on aviation and devoted to cutting in half carbon emissions by 2050 compared to 2005.

Their hope is that adopting sustainable fuel to curb emissions might make business jets more attractive to environmentally conscious buyers - specifically corporations dealing with concerns over sustainability from shareholders or green campaign groups.

The availability of less polluting personal jets might likewise spare the rich and well-known the unfavorable publicity experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his partner Meghan over a recent private jet trip to southern France.

Five Gulfstream jets on display screen in Las Vegas are using California-produced fuel from inedible beef tallow.

The most recent waste-based fuels consist of "fats, grease and oils that are byproducts of the food industry," stated Bryan Sherbacow, chief business officer of Boston-based biofuel producer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste used by Gulfstream.

"All of our product is inedible."

Some of the other 79 aircraft on display are expected to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other sustainable fuel mixes expected to be pumped at the program.

FLIGHT SHAMING

Private jets represent less than 0.1% of total yearly carbon emissions globally, but can discharge, on average, up to 20 times more carbon emissions per traveler mile than jetliners, according to the London-based private charter company Victor.

Prince Harry has actually defended his occasional usage of personal jets to ensure his family's safety, and has stated that on the uncommon occasions he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.

But planemakers say occurrences such as the furore over his schedule have added fresh obstacles for a market already striving to validate its contribution to cutting business costs.

"Incidents of flight shaming including using private jets are unfortunate when you consider that our industry has actually delivered fuel performance enhancements of 40% over the previous 40 years," stated Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.

Bombardier believes increased sustainable fuel usage will help the market make inroads with corporations and rich purchasers. According to industry information, billionaires just have a 19% company jet ownership rate.

But even an image transformation - with jets sporting sticker labels like "this airplane flies on eco-friendly fuels" and organisers including alternative fuel pumps for visiting planes - is not likely to satisfy all critics at the Oct 22-24 high-end jet occasion.

Environmentalists and some experts remain skeptical that biojetfuels, typically mixed 50-50 with kerosene, will make a considerable influence on public perceptions about luxury travel.

"No quantity of jatropha curcas or Brazil-nut fuel can make service jets look eco-friendly," stated aviation expert Richard Aboulafia.

Demand from service jet operators for renewable fuels now far goes beyond supply and their interest might drive future production, Sherbacow stated.

World Energy, which produces 40 million gallons of biofuel at its California plant, could expand production as much as 150 million gallons by 2022.

Corporate charter companies and specialists are also seeing more interest from consumers who wish to buy carbon credits to offset emissions from their flights.

Brian Proctor, CEO of Mente Group, a U.S. consultancy, said emissions contributed in a business jet usage research study his company just recently completed for a Fortune 500 business.

"At the end of the day, I believe that rate, expense per hour, range, speed and efficiency, that's still the (sales) motorist. But I think people are becoming more aware of the sustainability of operations and how it affects the planet." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)