By Allison Lampert
LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world's most significant industry show in Las Vegas high-end jets are enticing buyers with their sleek silhouettes, plush cabins - and progressively, their use of alternative fuels.
Fuel manufacturers and jetmakers are eager to display novel types of air travel fuel deemed less harmful to the climate, from used cooking oil to the clearly less glamorous meat waste.
Business jet operators, like airline companies, have bowed to ecological pressure on air travel and devoted to halving carbon emissions by 2050 compared with 2005.
Their hope is that adopting sustainable fuel to curb emissions could make company jets more attractive to environmentally mindful buyers - especially corporations dealing with concerns over sustainability from investors or green campaign groups.
The accessibility of less polluting private jets might also spare the abundant and well-known the negative promotion experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his better half Meghan over a current private jet trip to southern France.
Five Gulfstream jets on display in Las Vegas are using California-produced fuel from inedible beef tallow.
The most recent waste-based fuels include "fats, grease and oils that are byproducts of the food market," stated Bryan Sherbacow, chief commercial 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 display are anticipated to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other sustainable fuel mixes anticipated to be pumped at the program.
FLIGHT SHAMING
Private jets account for less than 0.1% of overall annual carbon emissions worldwide, but can produce, usually, approximately 20 times more carbon emissions per guest mile than jetliners, according to the London-based private charter firm Victor.
Prince Harry has actually protected his occasional use of private jets to guarantee his household's security, and has stated that on the rare celebrations he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.
But planemakers say events such as the furore over his itinerary have actually included fresh difficulties for a market currently making every effort to validate its contribution to cutting business expenses.
"Incidents of flight shaming including the usage of personal jets are unfortunate when you consider that our market has actually provided fuel effectiveness enhancements of 40% over the past 40 years," stated Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.
Bombardier believes increased sustainable fuel usage will help the market make inroads with corporations and rich buyers. According to industry information, billionaires just have a 19% company jet ownership rate.
But even an image remodeling - with jets sporting sticker labels like "this aircraft flies on renewable fuels" and organisers including alternative fuel pumps for going to airplanes - is unlikely to please all critics at the Oct 22-24 high-end jet occasion.
Environmentalists and some analysts stay doubtful that biojetfuels, typically mixed 50-50 with kerosene, will make a considerable influence on public understandings about luxury travel.
"No quantity of jatropha curcas or Brazil-nut fuel can make company jets look eco-friendly," said aviation expert Richard Aboulafia.
Demand from business jet operators for eco-friendly 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 broaden production as much as 150 million gallons by 2022.
Corporate charter companies and specialists are also seeing more interest from clients who wish to purchase carbon credits to balance out from their flights.
Brian Proctor, CEO of Mente Group, a U.S. consultancy, stated emissions contributed in a corporate jet utilization research study his company just recently completed for a Fortune 500 business.
"At the end of the day, I think that cost, expense per hour, variety, speed and efficiency, that's still the (sales) chauffeur. But I believe people are ending up being more familiar with the sustainability of operations and how it affects the world." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)
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Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show
Mitch O'Meara edited this page 2025-01-18 22:12:32 +08:00