Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show

By Allison Lampert

LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) – At the world’s greatest industry show in Las Vegas high-end jets are drawing buyers with their smooth silhouettes, plush cabins – and increasingly, their usage of alternative fuels.

Fuel producers and jetmakers are keen to display novel types of air travel fuel deemed less damaging to the environment, from utilized cooking oil to the distinctly less glamorous meat waste.

operators, like airlines, have actually bowed to environmental pressure on aviation and devoted to halving carbon emissions by 2050 compared with 2005.

Their hope is that adopting renewable fuel to suppress emissions might make business jets more appealing to environmentally mindful purchasers – particularly corporations dealing with questions over sustainability from investors or green project groups.

The availability of less contaminating personal jets could likewise spare the rich and popular the unfavorable promotion experienced by Britain’s Prince Harry and his partner Meghan over a recent private jet journey to southern France.

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

The most recent waste-based fuels consist of “fats, grease and oils that are byproducts of the food industry,” stated Bryan Sherbacow, primary industrial officer of Boston-based biofuel manufacturer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste used by Gulfstream.

“All of our product is inedible.”

Some of the other 79 aircraft on screen are anticipated to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other eco-friendly fuel mixes expected to be pumped at the show.

FLIGHT SHAMING

Private jets account for less than 0.1% of overall yearly carbon emissions worldwide, however can release, typically, approximately 20 times more carbon emissions per traveler mile than jetliners, according to the London-based private charter company Victor.

Prince Harry has actually defended his occasional usage of personal jets to ensure his family’s safety, and has said that on the unusual celebrations he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.

But planemakers say occurrences such as the furore over his travel plan have included fresh obstacles for a market already striving to justify its contribution to cutting corporate expenses.

“Incidents of flight shaming involving making use of private jets are unfortunate when you consider that our industry has delivered fuel efficiency enhancements of 40% over the past 40 years,” said Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.

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

But even an image remodeling – with jets sporting sticker labels like “this aircraft flies on eco-friendly fuels” and organisers including alternative fuel pumps for visiting aircrafts – is unlikely to satisfy all critics at the Oct 22-24 luxury jet occasion.

Environmentalists and some analysts remain doubtful that biojetfuels, typically blended 50-50 with kerosene, will make a significant effect on public perceptions about high-end travel.

“No amount of jatropha curcas or Brazil-nut fuel can make business jets look eco-friendly,” stated air travel analyst Richard Aboulafia.

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

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 consumers who desire 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 utilization research study his company just recently finished for a Fortune 500 company.

“At the end of the day, I believe that price, expense per hour, variety, speed and performance, that’s still the (sales) chauffeur. But I believe individuals are becoming more conscious of the sustainability of operations and how it affects the world.” (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)