Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show

Comments ยท 3 Views

By Allison Lampert By Allison Lampert

By Allison Lampert


LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world's most significant market show in Las Vegas high-end jets are enticing buyers with their smooth shapes, luxurious cabins - and significantly, their use of alternative fuels.


Fuel producers and jetmakers are eager to showcase unique forms of air travel fuel deemed less harmful to the environment, from utilized cooking oil to the clearly less glamorous meat waste.


Business jet operators, like airline companies, have acquiesced ecological pressure on air travel and committed to cutting in half carbon emissions by 2050 compared to 2005.


Their hope is that adopting renewable fuel to suppress emissions might make business jets more appealing to environmentally conscious buyers - specifically corporations dealing with questions over sustainability from shareholders or green project groups.


The schedule of less polluting personal jets might likewise spare the rich and well-known the unfavorable publicity experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his spouse Meghan over a current personal jet journey to southern France.


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


The most recent waste-based fuels include "fats, grease and oils that are byproducts of the food market," said Bryan Sherbacow, primary commercial officer of Boston-based biofuel manufacturer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste used by Gulfstream.


"All of our item is inedible."


Some of the other 79 aircraft on display screen are anticipated to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other eco-friendly 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 give off, typically, as much as 20 times more carbon emissions per traveler mile than jetliners, according to the London-based private charter company Victor.


Prince Harry has actually protected his periodic usage of personal jets to guarantee his household's safety, and has stated that on the unusual events he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.


But planemakers state incidents such as the furore over his travel plan have added fresh obstacles for a market already aiming to validate its contribution to cutting corporate costs.


"Incidents of flight shaming including the use of personal jets are regrettable when you consider that our market has actually delivered fuel efficiency enhancements of 40% over the previous 40 years," said Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.


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


But even an image remodeling - with jets sporting stickers like "this airplane flies on renewable fuels" and organisers adding alternative fuel pumps for checking out aircrafts - is unlikely to satisfy all critics at the Oct 22-24 luxury jet event.


Environmentalists and some analysts stay skeptical that biojetfuels, usually mixed 50-50 with kerosene, will make a considerable influence on public perceptions about high-end travel.


"No quantity of jatropha curcas or Brazil-nut fuel can make service jets look eco-friendly," said air travel expert Richard Aboulafia.


Demand from organization jet operators for renewable fuels now far surpasses 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 companies and specialists are also seeing more interest from clients who want to purchase carbon credits to offset emissions from their flights.


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


"At the end of the day, I believe that rate, cost per hour, variety, speed and performance, that's still the (sales) motorist. But I believe individuals are becoming more mindful of the sustainability of operations and how it affects the planet." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)

Comments