It's bad enough for some propeller aircrafts to be referred to as being powered by rubber bands. Now the cynics could begin having a dig at industrial airplane flying on everything from cooking oil to liquefied algae.
With the civil air travel market under increasing pressure from rising oil rates and ecological legislation, the race is on to find viable alternatives to traditional kerosene and these so far appear to come down to various kinds of biofuel.
Not surprisingly, the first trials of alternative fuel were started by British air travel leader, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic began London to Amsterdam flights with limited biofuel usage in 2008. This was rapidly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each utilized various 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 is a genus of around 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the family Euphorbiaceae.
In 2007 Goldman Sachs mentioned Jatropha curcas as one of the best prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to dry spell 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 study and development into using biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airlines Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would serve as strategic experts for the task.
The most current airline to begin explore new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has conducted internal US flights utilizing a blend of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mix, it is claimed, can cut hazardous emissions by 10%.
One actually motivating development has been the relocation away from biofuels which complete head on with food customers thereby preventing a price spiral. Not so long back, a rise in use of biofuels in cars and trucks triggered a spike in maize rates as US farmers diverted excessive corn to fuel processing.
Hopefully in the future, airline companies and motorists will focus biofuel intake on non-food sources such as jatropha and algae. It would be a combined blessing indeed if some people wound up simply to please somebody else's green credentials.
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Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
mirascullin903 edited this page 2025-01-12 02:00:57 +00:00