It's bad enough for some prop airplanes to be referred to as being powered by elastic band. Now the skeptics might start having a dig at industrial airplane flying on everything from cooking oil to liquefied algae.
With the civil aviation industry under increasing pressure from rising oil rates and environmental legislation, the race is on to find feasible alternatives to conventional kerosene and these so far appear to boil down to different kinds of biofuel.
Not surprisingly, the very first trials of alternative fuel were initiated by British aviation leader, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic started London to Amsterdam flights with minimal biofuel usage in 2008. This was quickly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each utilized various blends of routine fuel and bio derivatives consisting of some from made from jatropha curcas which can grow in soil considered too bad for growing mainstream foods items.
jatropha curcas is a genus of roughly 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the household Euphorbiaceae.
In 2007 Goldman Sachs pointed out as one of the very best candidates for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to dry spell and pests, and produces seeds containing 27-40% oil.
Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aeronautical major Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation relocated to perform 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 function as tactical consultants for the task.
The most current airline company to start explore brand-new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has performed internal US flights utilizing a mix of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mixture, it is declared, can cut hazardous emissions by 10%.
One actually motivating advancement has been the move far from biofuels which compete head on with food customers thus preventing a cost spiral. Not so long ago, a rise in use of biofuels in cars and trucks caused a spike in maize rates as US farmers diverted excessive corn to fuel processing.
Hopefully in the future, airlines and drivers will focus biofuel intake 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 somebody else's green credentials.
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Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
lukeweymouth80 edited this page 2025-01-08 17:45:56 +00:00