mission-newenergy-limited

It's bad enough for some propeller planes to be described as being powered by rubber bands. Now the cynics could start having a dig at commercial aircraft flying on whatever from to liquefied algae.

With the civil air travel industry under increasing pressure from rising oil prices and environmental legislation, the race is on to find feasible options to standard kerosene and these so far appear to come down to various types of biofuel.

Not surprisingly, the first trials of alternative fuel were started by British aviation leader, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic began London to Amsterdam flights with restricted biofuel use in 2008. This was quickly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each used various blends of regular fuel and bio derivatives including some from made from jatropha which can grow in soil considered too poor for growing mainstream foodstuffs.

Jatropha is a genus of around 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the household Euphorbiaceae.

In 2007 Goldman Sachs cited Jatropha curcas as one of the best candidates for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to drought and bugs, and produces seeds consisting of 27-40% oil.

Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aeronautical major Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation transferred to bring out research study and development into using biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airlines Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would serve as strategic specialists for the project.

The most recent airline company to start exploring with new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has conducted internal US flights using a mix of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from cooking oil. This mix, it is declared, can cut harmful emissions by 10%.

One actually motivating development has actually been the relocation away from biofuels which complete head on with food consumers thereby avoiding a rate spiral. Not so long ago, a rise in use of biofuels in cars and trucks caused a spike in maize prices as US farmers diverted excessive corn to fuel processing.

Hopefully in the future, airline companies and motorists will focus biofuel usage on non-food sources such as jatropha and algae. It would be a mixed true blessing undoubtedly if some people ended up starving simply to please another person's green qualifications.