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<br>It's bad enough for some prop aircrafts to be described as being powered by rubber bands. Now the skeptics could begin having a dig at business aircraft flying on whatever from cooking oil to melted algae.<br> |
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<br>With the civil aviation market under increasing pressure from increasing oil rates and environmental legislation, the race is on to discover viable alternatives to standard kerosene and these up until now appear to come down to kinds of biofuel.<br> |
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<br>Not remarkably, the first trials of alternative fuel were started by British aviation pioneer, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic began London to Amsterdam flights with minimal biofuel use in 2008. This was quickly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each utilized different blends of routine fuel and bio derivatives consisting of some from made from jatropha which can grow in soil thought about too bad for growing mainstream foodstuffs.<br> |
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<br>Jatropha is a genus of roughly 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the family Euphorbiaceae.<br> |
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<br>In 2007 Goldman Sachs mentioned Jatropha curcas as one of the finest prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to dry spell and pests, and produces seeds including 27-40% oil.<br> |
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<br>Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aerial major Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation transferred to carry out 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 strategic experts for the job.<br> |
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<br>The most recent airline company to start experimenting with brand-new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has performed internal US flights using a mix of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mix, it is declared, can cut hazardous emissions by 10%.<br> |
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<br>One truly encouraging advancement has actually been the move far from biofuels which contend head on with food customers thereby avoiding a cost spiral. Not so long ago, a rise in use of biofuels in cars caused a spike in maize rates as US farmers diverted too much corn to fuel processing.<br> |
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<br>Hopefully in the future, airline companies and drivers will focus biofuel usage on non-food sources such as jatropha and algae. It would be a blended blessing undoubtedly if some individuals ended up starving simply to please someone else's green credentials.<br> |
