Airlines Concentrate On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum

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<br>It’s bad enough for some propeller planes to be described as being powered by elastic band. Now the skeptics could start having a dig at commercial aircraft flying on everything from cooking oil to melted algae.<br>
<br>With the civil air travel market under increasing pressure from increasing oil rates and environmental legislation, the race is on to discover practical options to standard kerosene and these up until now appear to come down to various kinds of biofuel.<br>
<br>Not remarkably, the first trials of alternative fuel were started by British aviation leader, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin began London to Amsterdam flights with minimal biofuel usage 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 which can grow in soil considered too poor for growing mainstream foods.<br>
<br>Jatropha is a genus of roughly 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the household Euphorbiaceae.<br>
<br>In 2007 Goldman Sachs cited Jatropha curcas as one of the very best prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to drought and pests, and produces seeds including 27-40% oil.<br>
<br>Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aeronautical significant Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation moved to perform research study and advancement into making use of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airline companies Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would act as tactical specialists for the project.<br>
<br>The current airline to begin try out new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has carried out internal US flights using a blend of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mixture, it is claimed, can cut harmful emissions by 10%.<br>
<br>One really motivating advancement has been the move away from biofuels which contend head on with food customers consequently avoiding a rate spiral. Not so long back, a rise in usage of biofuels in cars and trucks triggered a spike in maize costs as US farmers diverted too much corn to fuel processing.<br>
<br>Hopefully in the future, airlines and drivers will focus biofuel intake on non-food sources such as jatropha and algae. It would be a blended blessing indeed if some individuals ended up starving simply to please somebody else’s green credentials.<br>

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