By Allison Lampert
LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world's greatest market show in Las Vegas luxury jets are drawing buyers with their streamlined shapes, plush cabins - and progressively, their use of alternative fuels.
Fuel manufacturers and jetmakers are keen to showcase novel forms of aviation fuel deemed less hazardous to the environment, from utilized cooking oil to the distinctly less glamorous meat waste.
Business jet operators, like airline companies, have acquiesced environmental pressure on aviation and devoted to cutting in half carbon emissions by 2050 compared to 2005.
Their hope is that adopting renewable fuel to curb emissions could make business jets more appealing to environmentally mindful purchasers - specifically corporations dealing with questions over sustainability from investors or green project groups.
The schedule of less polluting personal jets could likewise spare the abundant and famous the unfavorable publicity experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his spouse Meghan over a recent personal jet trip to southern France.
Five Gulfstream jets on display screen in Las Vegas are using California-produced fuel from inedible beef tallow.
The current waste-based fuels consist of "fats, grease and oils that are by-products of the food industry," stated Bryan Sherbacow, chief commercial officer of Boston-based biofuel producer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste utilized by Gulfstream.
"All of our product is inedible."
A few of the other 79 airplane on display 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 overall yearly carbon emissions internationally, however can discharge, usually, approximately 20 times more carbon emissions per guest mile than jetliners, according to the London-based private charter company Victor.
Prince Harry has safeguarded his occasional usage of private jets to ensure his household's security, and has said that on the unusual celebrations he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.
But planemakers state incidents such as the furore over his schedule have actually added fresh challenges for an industry already making every effort to validate its contribution to cutting business costs.
"Incidents of flight shaming involving making use of personal jets are unfortunate when you consider that our market has delivered fuel efficiency improvements of 40% over the past 40 years," said Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.
Bombardier thinks increased sustainable fuel usage will assist the market make inroads with corporations and rich buyers. According to market 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 checking out aircrafts - is unlikely to satisfy all critics at the Oct 22-24 high-end jet event.
Environmentalists and some experts stay skeptical that biojetfuels, typically combined 50-50 with kerosene, will make a substantial impact on about luxury travel.
"No amount of jatropha curcas or Brazil-nut fuel can make business jets look eco-friendly," said air travel expert Richard Aboulafia.
Demand from company jet operators for renewable fuels now far exceeds supply and their interest could drive future production, Sherbacow said.
World Energy, which produces 40 million gallons of biofuel at its California plant, might expand production as much as 150 million gallons by 2022.
Corporate charter companies and specialists are also seeing more interest from consumers who want 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 utilization study his company recently completed for a Fortune 500 business.
"At the end of the day, I think that rate, expense per hour, range, speed and efficiency, that's still the (sales) driver. But I think people are ending up being more knowledgeable about the sustainability of operations and how it affects the planet." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)
1
Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show
lizagrimley49 edited this page 2025-01-12 10:09:24 +00:00