Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show

By Allison Lampert

LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) – At the world’s biggest market program in Las Vegas luxury jets are enticing buyers with their sleek shapes, luxurious cabins – and increasingly, their usage of alternative fuels.

Fuel producers and jetmakers are eager to display unique types of air travel fuel considered less damaging to the climate, from utilized cooking oil to the distinctly less glamorous meat waste.

Business jet operators, like airlines, have actually acquiesced environmental pressure on air travel and dedicated to cutting in half carbon emissions by 2050 compared with 2005.

Their hope is that adopting sustainable fuel to suppress emissions might make organization jets more appealing to ecologically mindful buyers – especially corporations dealing with concerns over sustainability from investors or green project groups.

The availability of less polluting private jets could likewise spare the abundant and famous the negative promotion experienced by Britain’s Prince Harry and his spouse Meghan over a recent private jet journey to southern France.

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

The most current waste-based fuels include ”fats, grease and oils that are byproducts of the food industry,” stated Bryan Sherbacow, chief commercial officer of Boston-based biofuel manufacturer World Energy, which from meat waste utilized by Gulfstream.

”All of our item is inedible.”

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

FLIGHT SHAMING

Private jets represent less than 0.1% of total yearly carbon emissions globally, however can give off, usually, approximately 20 times more carbon emissions per passenger mile than jetliners, according to the London-based personal charter company Victor.

Prince Harry has actually defended his occasional use of private jets to guarantee his family’s security, and has actually said that on the unusual occasions he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.

But planemakers state events such as the furore over his schedule have actually added fresh obstacles for a market already aiming to justify its contribution to cutting business expenses.

”Incidents of flight shaming including making use of private jets are unfortunate when you consider that our market has delivered fuel performance improvements of 40% over the past 40 years,” stated Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.

Bombardier thinks increased sustainable fuel usage will help the market make inroads with corporations and wealthy purchasers. According to market data, billionaires only have a 19% business 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 airplanes – is unlikely to satisfy all critics at the Oct 22-24 high-end jet event.

Environmentalists and some analysts remain hesitant that biojetfuels, typically blended 50-50 with kerosene, will make a substantial influence on public perceptions about high-end travel.

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

Demand from company jet operators for sustainable 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 as much as 150 million gallons by 2022.

Corporate charter companies and consultants are likewise seeing more interest from customers who desire to buy carbon credits to offset emissions from their flights.

Brian Proctor, CEO of Mente Group, a U.S. consultancy, stated emissions played a role in a business jet usage study his company just recently finished for a Fortune 500 company.

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