mission-newenergy-limited

1 Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show

By Allison Lampert

LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world's greatest market show in Las Vegas luxury jets are enticing buyers with their sleek silhouettes, luxurious cabins - and significantly, their use of alternative fuels.

Fuel manufacturers and jetmakers are keen to showcase novel types of air travel fuel considered less harmful to the climate, from used cooking oil to the clearly less attractive meat waste.

Business jet operators, like airline companies, have actually acquiesced ecological pressure on aviation and devoted to halving carbon emissions by 2050 compared with 2005.

Their hope is that adopting sustainable fuel to suppress emissions could make business jets more attractive to environmentally mindful buyers - particularly corporations dealing with questions over sustainability from investors or green campaign groups.

The accessibility of less polluting personal jets could also spare the rich and well-known the unfavorable publicity experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his spouse Meghan over a recent personal 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 consist of "fats, grease and oils that are by-products of the food industry," said 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 aircraft on display are anticipated to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other mixes expected to be pumped at the program.

FLIGHT SHAMING

Private jets account for less than 0.1% of total yearly carbon emissions globally, however can discharge, typically, up to 20 times more carbon emissions per guest mile than jetliners, according to the London-based private charter company Victor.

Prince Harry has actually safeguarded his periodic usage of private jets to guarantee his household's security, and has stated that on the uncommon occasions he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.

But planemakers state incidents such as the furore over his travel plan have actually included fresh obstacles for a market currently making every effort to validate its contribution to cutting corporate expenses.

"Incidents of flight shaming involving making use of private jets are regrettable when you consider that our industry has actually provided fuel performance improvements of 40% over the previous 40 years," said Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.

Bombardier believes increased sustainable fuel use will assist the market make inroads with corporations and wealthy purchasers. 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 eco-friendly fuels" and organisers adding alternative fuel pumps for going to planes - is unlikely to please all critics at the Oct 22-24 luxury jet event.

Environmentalists and some analysts stay skeptical that biojetfuels, usually combined 50-50 with kerosene, will make a considerable influence on public perceptions about high-end travel.

"No quantity of Jatropha or Brazil-nut fuel can make service jets look eco-friendly," said aviation expert Richard Aboulafia.

Demand from organization jet operators for sustainable fuels now far surpasses supply and their interest could drive future production, Sherbacow said.

World Energy, which produces 40 million gallons of biofuel at its California plant, could expand production up to 150 million gallons by 2022.

Corporate charter business and experts are also seeing more interest from customers who want to purchase carbon credits to balance out emissions from their flights.

Brian Proctor, CEO of Mente Group, a U.S. consultancy, said emissions played a function in a corporate jet usage study his business just recently finished 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) motorist. But I believe individuals are becoming more knowledgeable about the sustainability of operations and how it affects the world." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)