I drive a 1985 Mercedes diesel car on recycled vegetable oil that I buy at San Francisco Bay Area biofuel pumps. The pumps are few and far between. The biofuel industry is still in its infancy, but it's looking more and more like I'll soon be able to fly a biofueled airplane more easily than I can find a biofuel fueling station for my car. Aviation biofuel is here, and coming to a commercial flight near you.
But is there a whiff of french fries in the air? On its veggie diet, my ancient Mercedes approximates the smell of a McDonald's as it cruises merrily along the freeway.
A plane that travels from Hawaii to New York City exhausts an average of 2-plus tons of greenhouse gases per passenger. Do the math: 150 passengers = 300 tons of gases. We Americans are notorious energy hogs, and we are responsible, on average, for only 2 tons of carbon emissions per an entire year.
Biofuel makes a dramatic difference. It's made from renewable organic matter, i.e., plants. As they grow, these plants are carbon dioxide sponges, absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen. Their use in biofuels, experts say, can reduce aviation carbon emissions by as much as 80% over time.
Airlines today continue to reel from oil's price volatility--and are sensitive to outcries from their customers when surcharges and other fees are levied as a result. They also know that they depend on a natural resource that is running out. Thus it's no surprise, really, that these businesses are especially keen on finding alternative fuels that do the job.
For example:
Before the end of August 2011, Finnair will fly the world's longest commercial flight on biofuel, from Amsterdam to Helsinki. Just like my Mercedes, this plane will be fueled on recycled veggie oil. Except that it will be mixed equally with ordinary aviation for this test.
In June 2011, a Gulfstream G450 was the first aircraft to fly from North America to Europe using biofuel. The jet closely followed the route taken by Charles Lindbergh's famous first flight across the Atlantic. It touched down safely in Paris on a 50/50 blend of Honeywell Green Jet Fuel and petroleum-based fuel powering one of the aircraft's engines. This biofuel was derived from camelina, a member of the mustard family that grows in rotation with wheat acreage and can also grow on marginal land.
Several airlines have successfully tested biofuel made from the obscure, non-edible plant jatropha. Japan Airlines, Air New Zealand, Continental, Brazil's TAM Airlines and most recently the Mexican carrier Interjet, working with European manufacturer Airbus, have flown without problems on fuel from this weed-like plant, which grows on land otherwise unusable for farming.
Honeywell has done 16 biofuel test flights so far, using petroleum substitutes made from sustainable, inedible sources such as camelina, jatropha and algae. They all met specifications for military and commercial flights without any modification to the aircraft or engines.
Not competing for prime agricultural land is key. The plants used for aviation biofuel, as Finnair states in a recent press release about its alternative fuel tests, must "significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, must not compromise food production or lead to biodiversity degradation or deforestation." But do they smell like french fries?
But is there a whiff of french fries in the air? On its veggie diet, my ancient Mercedes approximates the smell of a McDonald's as it cruises merrily along the freeway.
A plane that travels from Hawaii to New York City exhausts an average of 2-plus tons of greenhouse gases per passenger. Do the math: 150 passengers = 300 tons of gases. We Americans are notorious energy hogs, and we are responsible, on average, for only 2 tons of carbon emissions per an entire year.
Biofuel makes a dramatic difference. It's made from renewable organic matter, i.e., plants. As they grow, these plants are carbon dioxide sponges, absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen. Their use in biofuels, experts say, can reduce aviation carbon emissions by as much as 80% over time.
Airlines today continue to reel from oil's price volatility--and are sensitive to outcries from their customers when surcharges and other fees are levied as a result. They also know that they depend on a natural resource that is running out. Thus it's no surprise, really, that these businesses are especially keen on finding alternative fuels that do the job.
For example:
Before the end of August 2011, Finnair will fly the world's longest commercial flight on biofuel, from Amsterdam to Helsinki. Just like my Mercedes, this plane will be fueled on recycled veggie oil. Except that it will be mixed equally with ordinary aviation for this test.
In June 2011, a Gulfstream G450 was the first aircraft to fly from North America to Europe using biofuel. The jet closely followed the route taken by Charles Lindbergh's famous first flight across the Atlantic. It touched down safely in Paris on a 50/50 blend of Honeywell Green Jet Fuel and petroleum-based fuel powering one of the aircraft's engines. This biofuel was derived from camelina, a member of the mustard family that grows in rotation with wheat acreage and can also grow on marginal land.
Several airlines have successfully tested biofuel made from the obscure, non-edible plant jatropha. Japan Airlines, Air New Zealand, Continental, Brazil's TAM Airlines and most recently the Mexican carrier Interjet, working with European manufacturer Airbus, have flown without problems on fuel from this weed-like plant, which grows on land otherwise unusable for farming.
Honeywell has done 16 biofuel test flights so far, using petroleum substitutes made from sustainable, inedible sources such as camelina, jatropha and algae. They all met specifications for military and commercial flights without any modification to the aircraft or engines.
Not competing for prime agricultural land is key. The plants used for aviation biofuel, as Finnair states in a recent press release about its alternative fuel tests, must "significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, must not compromise food production or lead to biodiversity degradation or deforestation." But do they smell like french fries?
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