Posted on 02/24/2008 5:24:55 PM PST by fight_truth_decay
LONDON, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Virgin Atlantic says it has made air transport history in Britain by completing the first flight by a commercial airline to be powered partly by biofuel.
The Virgin Atlantic jumbo jet -- carrying no passengers -- departed from London's Heathrow Airport and touched down in Amsterdam using fuel created from a mixture of Brazilian babassu nuts and coconuts, the BBC reported Sunday.
Virgin Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer Richard Branson said the flight marked a "vital breakthrough" for the airline industry.
"This pioneering flight will enable those of us who are serious about reducing our carbon emissions to go on developing the fuels of the future," he said.
Fully commercial biofuel flights are likely to use feedstocks such as algae rather than the mix used on the Virgin Atlantic flight, Branson said.
The biofuels blend on the Virgin flight contained 20% neat biofuel and 80% conventional jet fuel. Virgin founder Richard Branson said tests had shown it was possible to fly with a 40% blend.
“Today marks a vital breakthrough for the whole airline industry,” Branson told reporters at Heathrow airport prior to the flight’s departure.
Environmental lobby group Friends of the Earth said biofuels were a distraction in the fight to cut carbon dioxide emissions, and that related carbon savings would be negated by increased airline travel.
All together now!
“I put the lime in the coconut, got airspeed velocity!”
So they dumped all that carbon in to the atmosphere for nothing?
“Environmental lobby group Friends of the Earth said biofuels were a distraction in the fight to cut carbon dioxide emissions, and that related carbon savings would be negated by increased airline travel.”
Well, that settles it. We’re going to have to go back to sailing ships (but they might frighten the whales!)/s
See also:
Virgin flies biofueled jet from London
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1975386/posts
Nice work. I’m for anything that can move us closer to telling OPEC to shove it.
yea, but do the growers get a living wage?
Yeah, the pushback truck was runnning on horses#i+.
ML/NJ
“Nice work. I’m for anything that can move us closer to telling OPEC to shove it.”
Except it does nothing of the sort. Biofuels IF less expensive will simply allow us to buy more Saudi oil. Besides, the amounts saved are a pittance.
> Sorry if I crowded you ...
Not me, and the two stories are different.
The object was just to link them for anyone
interested in the topic (and prevent duplicate
comments).
> ... I did a title search ...
Search is not one of FR’s strengths.
Now you need to apologize for apologizing :)
Sorry everyone,the US Airforce has already done this about 6 mo. ago. This is just a BS hype story for the tree huggers.
Industry has become less and less dependent on energy over time, but the average American commuter is now more dependent.
From 1980 to 1990, rising Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency standards forced automakers to improve car mileage significantly. Average miles per gallon rose very much in parallel to the energy improvements in the wider economy. That ended in 1990, however. The fuel economy standards on cars stopped rising. Our regulations are now much less stringent than those in Europe, Japan and even China. We also shifted to driving trucks and sport utility vehicles. We moved farther from our places of work and drove a lot more. Since 1990, the number of gallons we use, even on a per vehicle basis, rose substantially.
So as the price of oil neared $80 a barrel last year and gasoline exceeded $3 a gallon, it did not bring the economy to its knees, the way previous oil crises did. It just hit all of us driving our cars. Mr. Ahmadinejad may not have the ability to terrorize the economy, but he can certainly aggravate soccer moms in their minivans or commuters stuck in traffic by making them pay more.--January 4, 2007 NY TIMES
Sorry..
Excerpt: The synthetic fuel, which can be produced from almost any carbon-based biomass such as coal or wood, is more environmentally friendly because it emits less carbon dioxide and sulfur than traditional jet fuel. Jet engines tested so far have not needed any changes to use the fuel, Air Force officials said...Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne said he plans to have the entire Air Force fleet certified for synthetic fuel use by 2011.
>>The Virgin Atlantic jumbo jet — carrying no passengers
So they dumped all that carbon in to the atmosphere for nothing?<<
No. It’s to show us humans that Gaia is our god, and that Algore is her messiah.
The government tried to fight earlier oil crises by interfering in the market which, as should be expected, caused shortages. The best thing President Bush did with $3/gallon gas was nothing. If he had followed the recommendations of the Dems we would have ended up walking like in the 1970s.
Talk about timing: the kid of a friend of mine is doing a report on biofuel for aircraft ... sent ‘em the link.
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