mission-agroenergy-ltd

1 Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show

By Allison Lampert

LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world's biggest in Las Vegas high-end jets are luring buyers with their streamlined shapes, luxurious cabins - and increasingly, their usage of alternative fuels.

Fuel manufacturers and jetmakers are eager to showcase unique kinds of air travel fuel deemed less harmful to the climate, from utilized cooking oil to the definitely less attractive meat waste.

Business jet operators, like airlines, have actually acquiesced environmental pressure on aviation and committed to halving carbon emissions by 2050 compared with 2005.

Their hope is that embracing sustainable fuel to suppress emissions could make service jets more attractive to environmentally conscious purchasers - specifically corporations facing questions over sustainability from investors or green campaign groups.

The availability of less polluting personal jets might likewise spare the abundant and well-known the unfavorable publicity experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his partner Meghan over a recent private jet journey to southern France.

Five Gulfstream jets on screen in Las Vegas are using California-produced fuel from inedible beef tallow.

The current waste-based fuels consist of "fats, grease and oils that are by-products of the food market," said Bryan Sherbacow, chief business officer of Boston-based biofuel producer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste utilized by Gulfstream.

"All of our product is inedible."

A few of the other 79 aircraft on display screen are expected to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other sustainable fuel mixes expected to be pumped at the program.

FLIGHT SHAMING

Private jets represent less than 0.1% of overall annual carbon emissions worldwide, however can produce, on average, as much as 20 times more carbon emissions per guest mile than jetliners, according to the London-based private charter company Victor.

Prince Harry has actually defended his occasional use of personal jets to ensure his household's security, and has actually said that on the unusual events he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.

But planemakers state incidents such as the furore over his schedule have actually included fresh difficulties for an industry currently making every effort to validate its contribution to cutting corporate costs.

"Incidents of flight shaming including using personal jets are regrettable when you think about that our industry has delivered fuel effectiveness enhancements of 40% over the past 40 years," stated Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.

Bombardier thinks increased sustainable fuel use will assist the market make inroads with corporations and wealthy purchasers. According to industry data, billionaires only have a 19% service jet ownership rate.

But even an image makeover - with jets sporting stickers like "this airplane flies on eco-friendly fuels" and organisers adding alternative fuel pumps for visiting airplanes - is unlikely to please all critics at the Oct 22-24 luxury jet occasion.

Environmentalists and some experts stay skeptical that biojetfuels, typically mixed 50-50 with kerosene, will make a substantial impact on public understandings about high-end travel.

"No quantity of jatropha curcas or Brazil-nut fuel can make business jets look eco-friendly," said aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia.

Demand from organization jet operators for renewable fuels now far exceeds supply and their interest might drive future production, Sherbacow said.

World Energy, which produces 40 million gallons of biofuel at its California plant, might expand production approximately 150 million gallons by 2022.

Corporate charter business and consultants are also seeing more interest from clients who wish to buy carbon credits to offset emissions from their flights.

Brian Proctor, CEO of Mente Group, a U.S. consultancy, stated emissions played a function in a corporate jet usage research study his business recently finished for a Fortune 500 company.

"At the end of the day, I think that cost, cost per hour, range, speed and performance, that's still the (sales) chauffeur. But I think individuals are becoming more knowledgeable about the sustainability of operations and how it impacts the planet." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)