Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show

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By Allison Lampert By Allison Lampert

By Allison Lampert


LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world's biggest market show in Las Vegas high-end jets are drawing purchasers with their streamlined shapes, plush cabins - and increasingly, their use of alternative fuels.


Fuel manufacturers and jetmakers are eager to display novel kinds of air travel fuel considered less hazardous to the environment, from used cooking oil to the clearly less glamorous meat waste.


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


Their hope is that embracing sustainable fuel to curb emissions might make organization jets more appealing to environmentally conscious purchasers - especially corporations dealing with questions over sustainability from shareholders or green campaign groups.


The availability of less contaminating personal jets could likewise spare the abundant and well-known the negative promotion experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his partner Meghan over a recent personal jet trip 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 by-products of the food market," said Bryan Sherbacow, chief industrial officer of Boston-based biofuel producer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste utilized by Gulfstream.


"All of our product is inedible."


A few of the other 79 aircraft on display screen are expected to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other sustainable fuel mixes expected to be pumped at the show.


FLIGHT SHAMING


Private jets account for less than 0.1% of total annual carbon emissions worldwide, but can give off, usually, approximately 20 times more carbon emissions per guest mile than jetliners, according to the London-based personal charter company Victor.


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


But planemakers say incidents such as the furore over his travel plan have actually included fresh obstacles for an industry already aiming to justify its contribution to cutting business expenses.


"Incidents of flight shaming involving the usage of private jets are regrettable when you think about that our industry has actually delivered fuel effectiveness enhancements of 40% over the previous 40 years," stated Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.


Bombardier believes increased sustainable fuel use will assist the industry make inroads with corporations and rich purchasers. According to market information, billionaires only have a 19% business 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 planes - is unlikely to satisfy all critics at the Oct 22-24 high-end jet occasion.


Environmentalists and some experts stay hesitant that biojetfuels, typically combined 50-50 with kerosene, will make a considerable influence on public understandings about high-end travel.


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


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


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


Corporate charter business and specialists are also seeing more interest from consumers who wish to purchase carbon credits to balance out emissions from their flights.


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


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

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