Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show
By Allison Lampert
LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world's most significant market program in Las Vegas luxury jets are drawing purchasers with their streamlined silhouettes, luxurious cabins - and progressively, their use of alternative fuels.
Fuel manufacturers and jetmakers are eager to showcase novel forms of air travel fuel considered less hazardous to the environment, from used cooking oil to the noticeably less attractive meat waste.
Business jet operators, like airline companies, have acquiesced environmental pressure on air travel and committed to cutting in half carbon emissions by 2050 compared to 2005.
Their hope is that adopting sustainable fuel to curb emissions could make company jets more attractive to ecologically conscious buyers - especially corporations dealing with questions over sustainability from investors or green project groups.
The accessibility of less polluting private jets might likewise spare the rich and well-known the negative promotion experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan over a current private jet journey to southern France.
Five Gulfstream jets on display screen in Las Vegas are utilizing California-produced fuel from inedible beef tallow.
The most recent waste-based fuels include "fats, grease and oils that are byproducts of the food industry," said Bryan Sherbacow, chief commercial officer of Boston-based biofuel manufacturer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste used by Gulfstream.
"All of our product is inedible."
Some of the other 79 aircraft on display are expected to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other renewable fuel mixes expected to be pumped at the show.
FLIGHT SHAMING
Private jets account for less than 0.1% of overall yearly carbon emissions worldwide, but can release, on average, up to 20 times more carbon emissions per passenger mile than jetliners, according to the London-based personal charter firm Victor.
Prince Harry has defended his periodic use of to ensure his household's security, and has said that on the rare occasions he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.
But planemakers say occurrences such as the furore over his schedule have included fresh challenges for an industry currently striving to validate its contribution to cutting corporate costs.
"Incidents of flight shaming including using private jets are regrettable when you think about that our industry has actually delivered fuel efficiency improvements of 40% over the past 40 years," stated Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.
Bombardier thinks increased sustainable fuel usage will assist the market make inroads with corporations and rich buyers. According to industry information, billionaires only have a 19% business jet ownership rate.
But even an image makeover - with jets sporting sticker labels like "this aircraft flies on eco-friendly fuels" and organisers including alternative fuel pumps for visiting planes - is not likely to satisfy all critics at the Oct 22-24 high-end jet event.
Environmentalists and some experts remain skeptical that biojetfuels, generally mixed 50-50 with kerosene, will make a substantial impact on public understandings about luxury travel.
"No amount of jatropha curcas or Brazil-nut fuel can make company jets look eco-friendly," said air travel analyst Richard Aboulafia.
Demand from business 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, might broaden production approximately 150 million gallons by 2022.
Corporate charter business and consultants are also seeing more interest from clients 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 corporate jet utilization research study his company recently finished for a Fortune 500 business.
"At the end of the day, I think that cost, expense per hour, variety, speed and performance, that's still the (sales) chauffeur. But I believe people are becoming more familiar with the sustainability of operations and how it affects the world." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)