Chip fat to fuel our planes?

Chip fat to fuel our planes? January 23, 2012

Posted by janeefraser in Airlines, Travel, Travel technology, Travel tips & trends.
Tags: airlines, aviation, biofuel, green travel, Qantas, Travel, Virgin Atlantic
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If there’s something we can expect to see a lot of this year, it is airlines talking up their green credentials. From chicken fat to algae, carriers are busy looking for new ways to fuel their planes and reduce their emissions.

Several airlines have already claimed “world-first” initiatives such as the first commercial biofuel flight, the first scheduled biofuel flight and the longest distance biofuel flight, and Qantas has announced its intention to operate Australia’s first biofuel flight early this year.

Airlines are very keen to be seen to be making these efforts, hence the amount of marketing hype accompanying each development, but there are also commercial imperatives driving them. The global aviation industry produces only 2 per cent of the world’s man-made carbon emissions, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), but airlines are nevertheless under immense pressure to become greener.

IATA has declared work on biofuels to be a major priority for the industry in the year ahead, with the association’s chief executive, Tony Tyler, saying it is “one of aviation’s great challenges” to reduce its carbon emissions. ”Sustainability is our licence to grow,” Tyler says.

The problem with biofuels and other green initiatives is that they… (click here to keep reading this article by Jane E. Fraser)

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Jane E. Fraser