It's bad enough for some prop aircrafts to be described as being powered by elastic band. Now the cynics could start having a dig at commercial airplane flying on everything from cooking oil to liquefied algae.
With the civil aviation industry under increasing pressure from rising oil prices and ecological legislation, the race is on to find practical alternatives to traditional kerosene and these up until now seem to come down to numerous types of biofuel.
Not remarkably, the first trials of alternative fuel were initiated by British aviation pioneer, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic began London to Amsterdam flights with restricted biofuel use in 2008. This was rapidly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each used various blends of regular fuel and bio derivatives consisting of some from made from jatropha which can grow in soil thought about too bad for growing mainstream foodstuffs.
Jatropha is a genus of roughly 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the family Euphorbiaceae.
In 2007 Goldman Sachs pointed out Jatropha jatropha curcas as one of the finest prospects for future biodiesel . It is resistant to drought and pests, and produces seeds including 27-40% oil.
Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aerial significant Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation transferred to carry out research study and advancement into using biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airline companies Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would serve as strategic consultants for the task.
The newest airline to start explore new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has carried out internal US flights utilizing a blend of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mixture, it is claimed, can cut harmful emissions by 10%.
One actually motivating advancement has actually been the move away from biofuels which compete head on with food consumers consequently avoiding a price spiral. Not so long ago, a rise in use of biofuels in vehicles triggered 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 consumption on non-food sources such as jatropha and algae. It would be a mixed true blessing undoubtedly if some people ended up starving simply to please another person's green credentials.
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Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
lucilehaines16 edited this page 2025-01-12 07:27:29 +00:00