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 greatest market show in Las Vegas high-end jets are tempting buyers with their streamlined shapes, plush cabins - and progressively, their use of alternative fuels.


Fuel manufacturers and jetmakers are eager to display novel kinds of aviation fuel deemed less hazardous to the environment, from used cooking oil to the distinctly less glamorous meat waste.


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


Their hope is that adopting eco-friendly fuel to curb emissions might make company jets more attractive to ecologically conscious purchasers - particularly corporations dealing with questions over sustainability from shareholders or green campaign groups.


The schedule of less polluting private jets could likewise spare the rich and popular the negative publicity experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan over a recent private jet journey to southern France.


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


The current waste-based fuels include "fats, grease and oils that are byproducts of the food industry," stated Bryan Sherbacow, chief business officer of Boston-based biofuel producer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste used by Gulfstream.


"All of our item is inedible."


Some of the other 79 airplane on screen are expected to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other eco-friendly fuel blends expected to be pumped at the program.


FLIGHT SHAMING


Private jets account for less than 0.1% of total yearly carbon emissions internationally, but can give off, usually, as much as 20 times more carbon emissions per traveler mile than jetliners, according to the London-based private charter company Victor.


Prince Harry has protected his periodic usage of private jets to guarantee his family's security, and has stated that on the uncommon events he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.


But planemakers state incidents such as the furore over his itinerary have actually added fresh obstacles for a market currently striving to justify its contribution to cutting business costs.


"Incidents of flight shaming including using personal jets are unfortunate when you consider that our industry has actually provided fuel performance enhancements of 40% over the previous 40 years," stated 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% organization jet ownership rate.


But even an image transformation - with jets sporting sticker labels like "this aircraft flies on renewable 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 doubtful that biojetfuels, generally combined 50-50 with kerosene, will make a substantial influence on public understandings about high-end travel.


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


Demand from business jet operators for eco-friendly fuels now far goes beyond supply and their interest could drive future production, Sherbacow stated.


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


Corporate charter companies and consultants are also seeing more interest from clients who wish to buy 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 usage research study his company just recently completed for a Fortune 500 company.


"At the end of the day, I believe that cost, 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 impacts the world." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)

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