1 Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show
Holley Barone edited this page 2025-01-12 03:22:20 +03:00


By Allison Lampert

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

Fuel producers and jetmakers are keen to display unique types of air travel fuel deemed less harmful to the climate, from used cooking oil to the noticeably less glamorous meat waste.

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

Their hope is that adopting eco-friendly fuel to suppress emissions could make business jets more attractive to environmentally conscious purchasers - especially corporations facing concerns over sustainability from investors or green project groups.

The availability of less polluting personal jets could also spare the rich and popular the unfavorable promotion experienced by Harry and his wife Meghan over a recent personal jet trip to southern France.

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

The current waste-based fuels consist of "fats, grease and oils that are byproducts of the food industry," stated Bryan Sherbacow, primary business officer of Boston-based biofuel producer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste utilized by Gulfstream.

"All of our item is inedible."

A few of the other 79 airplane on screen are expected to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other eco-friendly fuel blends anticipated to be pumped at the program.

FLIGHT SHAMING

Private jets represent less than 0.1% of overall yearly carbon emissions internationally, but can emit, usually, approximately 20 times more carbon emissions per guest mile than jetliners, according to the London-based personal charter firm Victor.

Prince Harry has actually protected his occasional usage of personal jets to ensure his family's safety, and has stated that on the uncommon celebrations he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.

But planemakers state events such as the furore over his schedule have added fresh obstacles for an industry already aiming to justify its contribution to cutting business costs.

"Incidents of flight shaming including using private jets are unfortunate when you consider that our market has provided fuel efficiency improvements of 40% over the past 40 years," stated Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.

Bombardier thinks increased sustainable fuel usage will assist the industry make inroads with corporations and rich purchasers. According to industry data, billionaires only have a 19% service jet ownership rate.

But even an image transformation - with jets sporting sticker labels like "this airplane flies on eco-friendly fuels" and organisers adding alternative fuel pumps for visiting airplanes - is not likely to please all critics at the Oct 22-24 high-end jet event.

Environmentalists and some experts stay skeptical that biojetfuels, typically mixed 50-50 with kerosene, will make a significant impact on public understandings about luxury travel.

"No quantity of jatropha curcas or Brazil-nut fuel can make organization jets look eco-friendly," stated aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia.

Demand from organization jet operators for sustainable fuels now far exceeds supply and their interest could drive future production, Sherbacow stated.

World Energy, which produces 40 million gallons of biofuel at its California plant, could expand production as much as 150 million gallons by 2022.

Corporate charter business and consultants are also seeing more interest from consumers who wish to buy carbon credits to offset emissions from their flights.

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

"At the end of the day, I believe that rate, cost per hour, range, speed and performance, that's still the (sales) chauffeur. But I believe people are ending up being more knowledgeable about the sustainability of operations and how it affects the world." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)