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New aircraft fuel could be pie in the sky
George Monbiot, The Guardian
Richard Branson has pledged to fund research into alternative fuel for aircraft, but what lies behind the announcement?
—
So now we know: Richard Branson doesn’t read the Guardian. On Thursday, it published an extract from my book showing that there are no foreseeable substitutes for aviation fuel (kerosene) that don’t currently cause more harm than good. A few hours later, Branson announced that he would be investing £1.6bn in technologies intended to reduce climate change. First among them would be alternative fuels for aircraft.
He singled out biofuels as a promising opportunity. While pure biodiesel can be used to run a car engine, it cannot be used in jet planes at a higher concentration than roughly 10%. This is because its “cloud point” is much higher than kerosene’s.
At low temperatures, oils go cloudy, and at a couple of degrees beyond that point, they form a gel that would block the engine. As the plane rises through the troposphere, and the temperature cools, its engines would clog and stall. Even a 10% mixture is likely to be fatal, as it raises the cloud point from -51C to -29C.
(25 Sep 2006)
Boeing Says Biofuels Show Some Promise
Jason Neely, Reuters via Planet Ark
LONDON – Sugarcane and switchgrass are unlikely to fuel the next plane you ride, but Boeing Co. says development of biofuels is gaining momentum as airlines and armed forces seek alternatives to expensive jet fuel.
…”Fuel is the biggest four-letter word in the industry,” Billy Glover, director of environmental performance strategy at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in an interview with Reuters.
“Fuel efficiency is an economic issue, but it’s also an environmental one,” said Glover, whose job involves looking at how Boeing can build planes that fly cleaner and quieter.
That means using less kerosene-based JP-8 fuel and looking at alternatives, he said.
(29 Oct 2006)
Why We Need An X Prize for Eco-Friendly Air Travel
Alex Steffen, WorldChanging
Air travel presents one of the stickiest problems we face.
On the one hand, in a rapidly globalizing world, we need to fly to do business, build networks and see loved ones. Indeed, to many people (including myself, to be honest), the ability to travel easily and keep a global community is one of the greatest accomplishments of our civilization.
On the other hand, air travel is frying the planet. While air travel contributes only 3% of humanity’s total CO2 emissions (making them a problem only a few times larger than, say, coal fires), air travel is growing at an astounding rate. And while engines are growing more efficient, planes are also getting larger and flights more frequent, meaning that air travel may effectively undo many of the gains so far made in cutting CO2:
…So, here’s my answer: we need better jets. We need to crack a seemingly insolvable problem and design carbon-neutral, non-toxic air transportation.
(26 Sept 2006)
There is no law against irrational optimism, unfortunately.-LJ
