It's bad enough for some prop planes to be referred to as being powered by elastic band. Now the skeptics might begin having a dig at business aircraft flying on whatever from cooking oil to liquefied algae.
With the civil aviation industry under increasing pressure from rising oil rates and ecological legislation, the race is on to find viable options to standard kerosene and these so far seem to boil down to various types of biofuel.
Not remarkably, the very first trials of alternative fuel were initiated by British air travel pioneer, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic began London to Amsterdam flights with restricted in 2008. This was rapidly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each used different blends of routine fuel and bio derivatives including some from made from jatropha which can grow in soil thought about too bad for growing mainstream foods items.
Jatropha 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 very best candidates for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to drought and insects, and produces seeds containing 27-40% oil.
Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aeronautical significant Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation relocated to perform research study and advancement into using biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airlines Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would function as strategic experts for the project.
The newest airline company to begin try out brand-new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has performed internal US flights utilizing a blend of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mix, it is declared, can cut harmful emissions by 10%.
One truly encouraging development has actually been the move far from biofuels which contend head on with food consumers thereby preventing a cost spiral. Not so long back, a surge in use of biofuels in cars and trucks triggered a spike in maize costs as US farmers diverted excessive 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 combined blessing undoubtedly if some people wound up starving just to please somebody else's green qualifications.
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Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
josephinek784 edited this page 2025-01-12 00:50:50 +08:00