Airlines Concentrate On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum

It's bad enough for some prop airplanes to be explained as being powered by rubber bands. Now the skeptics could start having a dig at commercial airplane flying on whatever from cooking oil to liquefied algae.


With the civil air travel industry under increasing pressure from rising oil costs and environmental legislation, the race is on to discover feasible alternatives to traditional kerosene and these up until now appear to boil down to different types of biofuel.


Not remarkably, the very first trials of alternative fuel were started by British aviation pioneer, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic started London to Amsterdam flights with minimal biofuel usage in 2008. This was quickly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each different blends of routine fuel and bio derivatives including some from made from jatropha which can grow in soil considered too bad for growing mainstream foods items.


Jatropha is a genus of roughly 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the family Euphorbiaceae.


In 2007 Goldman Sachs pointed out Jatropha curcas as one of the finest prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to drought and insects, and produces seeds containing 27-40% oil.


Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aerial major Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation relocated to perform research and advancement into making use of biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airlines Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would serve as tactical consultants for the job.


The latest airline to start explore brand-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 mixture, it is declared, can cut harmful emissions by 10%.


One really motivating development has actually been the move away from biofuels which complete head on with food consumers consequently avoiding a rate spiral. Not so long ago, a rise in usage of biofuels in cars triggered a spike in maize rates as US farmers diverted excessive corn to fuel processing.


Hopefully in the future, airline companies and drivers will focus biofuel intake on non-food sources such as jatropha and algae. It would be a combined blessing indeed if some individuals ended up starving just to please another person's green credentials.