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Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show

Aline Lumpkin edited this page 2025-01-11 22:15:09 +00:00

By Allison Lampert

LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world's biggest industry show in Las Vegas luxury jets are enticing purchasers with their smooth shapes, plush cabins - and increasingly, their usage of alternative fuels.

Fuel manufacturers and jetmakers are eager to showcase unique kinds of aviation fuel considered less hazardous to the environment, from utilized cooking oil to the distinctly less attractive meat waste.

Business jet operators, like airline companies, have actually bowed to environmental pressure on air travel and committed to halving carbon emissions by 2050 compared to 2005.

Their hope is that embracing sustainable fuel to curb emissions could make business jets more appealing to buyers - specifically corporations dealing with concerns over sustainability from shareholders or green campaign groups.

The schedule of less contaminating private jets could also spare the rich and famous the negative publicity experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his partner Meghan over a current personal jet trip to southern France.

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

The most current 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 used by Gulfstream.

"All of our product is inedible."

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

FLIGHT SHAMING

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

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

But planemakers say events such as the furore over his itinerary have included fresh difficulties for a market currently striving to validate its contribution to cutting corporate costs.

"Incidents of flight shaming including making use of private jets are regrettable when you think about that our industry has provided fuel efficiency improvements of 40% over the past 40 years," said Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.

Bombardier believes increased sustainable fuel use will assist the market make inroads with corporations and rich buyers. According to industry data, billionaires only have a 19% company jet ownership rate.

But even an image transformation - with jets sporting sticker labels like "this aircraft flies on sustainable fuels" and organisers including alternative fuel pumps for going to planes - is unlikely to satisfy all critics at the Oct 22-24 luxury jet event.

Environmentalists and some analysts remain skeptical that biojetfuels, generally combined 50-50 with kerosene, will make a considerable impact on public understandings about high-end travel.

"No amount of Jatropha or Brazil-nut fuel can make organization jets look eco-friendly," said aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia.

Demand from service jet operators for renewable 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, could expand production approximately 150 million gallons by 2022.

Corporate charter companies and specialists are likewise seeing more interest from clients who wish to purchase carbon credits to offset emissions from their flights.

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

"At the end of the day, I believe that price, cost per hour, variety, speed and efficiency, that's still the (sales) motorist. But I think people are becoming more familiar with the sustainability of operations and how it affects the planet." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)