It's bad enough for some prop airplanes to be described as being powered by elastic band. Now the skeptics might start having a dig at industrial airplane flying on whatever from cooking oil to liquefied algae.
With the civil aviation industry under increasing pressure from increasing oil rates and environmental legislation, the race is on to discover feasible options to traditional kerosene and these so far seem to boil down to numerous kinds of biofuel.
Not surprisingly, the very first trials of alternative fuel were initiated by British air travel pioneer, 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 Zealand who each utilized different blends of regular fuel and bio derivatives consisting of some from made from jatropha curcas which can grow in soil considered too poor for growing mainstream foods items.
jatropha curcas is a genus of around 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the household Euphorbiaceae.
In 2007 Goldman Sachs cited Jatropha 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 significant Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation moved to perform research and advancement into the use of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airline companies Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would act as strategic consultants for the task.
The newest airline company to start exploring with brand-new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has actually carried out 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 damaging emissions by 10%.
One truly encouraging development has actually been the relocation far from biofuels which complete head on with food customers therefore preventing a price spiral. Not so long back, a rise in use of biofuels in cars caused a spike in maize rates as US farmers diverted too much corn to fuel processing.
Hopefully in the future, airlines and motorists will intake on non-food sources such as jatropha curcas and algae. It would be a combined true blessing undoubtedly if some people wound up starving simply to please another person's green credentials.
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Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
tobyrawson8801 edited this page 2025-01-11 18:54:51 +00:00