Airlines Concentrate On Biofuel Trials Gather Momentum

It's bad enough for some prop aircrafts to be explained as being powered by rubber bands. Now the cynics might begin having a dig at industrial airplane flying on everything from cooking oil to .


With the civil air travel industry under increasing pressure from rising oil prices and environmental legislation, the race is on to discover practical alternatives to traditional kerosene and these so far seem to come down to different types of biofuel.


Not surprisingly, the very first trials of alternative fuel were started by British air travel pioneer, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic started London to Amsterdam flights with restricted biofuel use in 2008. This was rapidly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each used different blends of regular fuel and bio derivatives consisting of some from made from jatropha which can grow in soil considered too bad for growing mainstream foodstuffs.


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 pointed out Jatropha jatropha curcas as one of the very best prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to dry spell and pests, and produces seeds containing 27-40% oil.


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 using biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airline companies Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would act as strategic specialists for the task.


The latest airline to start explore brand-new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has actually conducted 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 truly motivating development has been the relocation away from biofuels which complete head on with food customers consequently avoiding a rate spiral. Not so long earlier, a surge in usage of biofuels in cars triggered a spike in maize costs as US farmers diverted too much corn to fuel processing.


Hopefully in the future, airlines and motorists will focus biofuel consumption on non-food sources such as jatropha and algae. It would be a combined true blessing certainly if some people ended up starving simply to satisfy someone else's green credentials.