It's bad enough for some propeller airplanes to be referred to as being powered by rubber bands. 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 increasing oil rates and environmental legislation, the race is on to discover feasible options to standard kerosene and these so far seem to boil down to numerous types of biofuel.
Not surprisingly, the first trials of alternative fuel were initiated by British aviation leader, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic started London to Amsterdam flights with restricted biofuel usage in 2008. This was rapidly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each used different blends of routine fuel and bio derivatives consisting of some from made from jatropha curcas which can grow in soil thought about 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 mentioned Jatropha curcas as one of the best prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to dry spell and bugs, and produces seeds containing 27-40% oil.
Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aerial significant Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation relocated to perform research study and development into the use of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airlines Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would act as tactical consultants for the task.
The most recent airline to start try out new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has actually performed internal US flights using a mix of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mixture, it is claimed, can cut harmful emissions by 10%.
One really motivating advancement has actually been the relocation away from biofuels which complete head on with food consumers therefore avoiding a rate spiral. Not so long earlier, a rise in usage of biofuels in automobiles 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 usage on non-food sources such as jatropha curcas and algae. It would be a mixed true undoubtedly if some individuals wound up starving simply to satisfy another person's green credentials.
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Airlines Focus On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum
juliettiffany edited this page 2025-01-12 05:59:30 +08:00