Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show

By Allison Lampert

LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) – At the world’s most significant industry program in Las Vegas high-end jets are luring buyers with their streamlined shapes, plush cabins – and significantly, their use of alternative fuels.

Fuel manufacturers and jetmakers are eager to showcase unique kinds of aviation fuel deemed less hazardous to the environment, from used cooking oil to the noticeably less attractive meat waste.

Business jet operators, like airlines, have bowed to environmental pressure on air travel and devoted to cutting in half carbon emissions by 2050 compared to 2005.

Their hope is that embracing eco-friendly fuel to suppress emissions might make organization jets more appealing to environmentally conscious buyers – specifically corporations dealing with concerns over sustainability from shareholders or green campaign groups.

The availability of less jets might also spare the abundant and well-known the negative publicity experienced by Britain’s Prince Harry and his partner Meghan over a current personal jet trip to southern France.

Five Gulfstream jets on display in Las Vegas are using California-produced fuel from inedible beef tallow.

The current waste-based fuels include «fats, grease and oils that are byproducts of the food industry,» said Bryan Sherbacow, chief business officer of Boston-based biofuel producer 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 eco-friendly fuel mixes anticipated to be pumped at the program.

FLIGHT SHAMING

Private jets represent less than 0.1% of overall annual carbon emissions globally, but can discharge, usually, up to 20 times more carbon emissions per guest mile than jetliners, according to the London-based private charter company Victor.

Prince Harry has defended his periodic usage of personal jets to guarantee his family’s security, and has actually stated that on the unusual celebrations he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.

But planemakers state occurrences such as the furore over his travel plan have actually added fresh difficulties for a market already aiming to validate its contribution to cutting business expenses.

«Incidents of flight shaming including making use of private jets are regrettable when you think about that our industry has delivered fuel efficiency 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 wealthy purchasers. According to industry data, billionaires just have a 19% service jet ownership rate.

But even an image transformation – with jets sporting stickers like «this airplane flies on sustainable fuels» and organisers adding alternative fuel pumps for going to aircrafts – is unlikely to satisfy all critics at the Oct 22-24 luxury jet event.

Environmentalists and some experts stay doubtful that biojetfuels, usually combined 50-50 with kerosene, will make a considerable impact on public understandings about high-end travel.

«No quantity of Jatropha or Brazil-nut fuel can make service jets look eco-friendly,» stated air travel analyst Richard Aboulafia.

Demand from company jet operators for sustainable fuels now far goes beyond 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 as much as 150 million gallons by 2022.

Corporate charter business and consultants are also seeing more interest from clients who want to buy carbon credits to offset emissions from their flights.

Brian Proctor, CEO of Mente Group, a U.S. consultancy, stated emissions contributed in a business jet usage research study his business just recently completed for a Fortune 500 business.

«At the end of the day, I believe that rate, expense per hour, variety, speed and efficiency, that’s still the (sales) motorist. But I believe individuals are ending up being more knowledgeable about the sustainability of operations and how it impacts the planet.» (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)