By Allison Lampert
LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world's biggest industry program in Las Vegas high-end jets are drawing buyers with their smooth silhouettes, plush cabins - and significantly, their usage of alternative fuels.
Fuel producers and jetmakers are eager to display unique forms of aviation fuel deemed less to the environment, from used cooking oil to the distinctly less glamorous meat waste.
Business jet operators, like airlines, have bowed to environmental pressure on aviation and dedicated to cutting in half carbon emissions by 2050 compared to 2005.
Their hope is that embracing eco-friendly fuel to curb emissions might make business jets more appealing to environmentally mindful buyers - specifically corporations facing questions over sustainability from investors or green campaign groups.
The availability of less contaminating private jets might likewise spare the abundant and well-known 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 latest waste-based fuels include "fats, grease and oils that are by-products of the food industry," stated Bryan Sherbacow, primary industrial 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 screen are expected to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other sustainable fuel blends anticipated to be pumped at the show.
FLIGHT SHAMING
Private jets represent less than 0.1% of overall annual carbon emissions worldwide, but can discharge, on average, approximately 20 times more carbon emissions per passenger mile than jetliners, according to the London-based personal charter firm Victor.
Prince Harry has protected his occasional usage of personal jets 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 state events such as the furore over his schedule have added fresh difficulties for an industry already striving to validate its contribution to cutting corporate costs.
"Incidents of flight shaming involving using personal jets are regrettable when you think about that our market has delivered fuel performance improvements of 40% over the previous 40 years," said Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.
Bombardier believes increased sustainable fuel use will help the industry make inroads with corporations and wealthy buyers. According to industry information, billionaires just have a 19% organization jet ownership rate.
But even an image remodeling - with jets sporting stickers like "this airplane flies on eco-friendly fuels" and organisers including alternative fuel pumps for going to planes - is not likely to please all critics at the Oct 22-24 high-end jet occasion.
Environmentalists and some analysts stay doubtful that biojetfuels, usually blended 50-50 with kerosene, will make a substantial influence on public understandings about high-end travel.
"No quantity of Jatropha or Brazil-nut fuel can make business jets look eco-friendly," stated aviation expert Richard Aboulafia.
Demand from company jet operators for renewable fuels now far exceeds supply and their interest might 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 companies and consultants are also seeing more interest from consumers who want to purchase 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 utilization research study his company recently completed for a Fortune 500 company.
"At the end of the day, I think that cost, cost per hour, variety, speed and performance, that's still the (sales) motorist. But I think people are ending up being more knowledgeable about 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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Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show
Esther Mauer edited this page 2025-01-12 00:12:53 +00:00