30 June 2010
Carbon Neutral Private Jet Flights
The private jet sector could lead the way in carbon neutral air travel following a successful recent test flight using algae-based biofuel.
This bio-fuel demo flight was displayed at the ILA Airshow in Berlin by an Austrian built Diamond Aircraft DA42 with two Austro diesel engines AE300 diesels.
The arguments against widespread development of bio fuels in aviation are:
- The huge quantities of fuel required to be grown.
- The increase in food prices which will cause mass starvation in the developing world if farmers switch to producing fuel not food.
The private jet industry can be the exception and prove the sceptics wrong. Here’s how:
- The average private jet burns substantially less fuel per nautical mile than an airliner (obviously this is not the case when calculated on a per passenger basis).
- A large segment of private jet users would pay more to fly on a carbon neutral aircraft. You only have to look at the uptake of the Toyota Prius in LA to see how ‘being green’ (or being seen to be green) can be a powerful PR motivator for those with a media profile to worry out!
Despite this flight being on a small propeller aircraft, this is a substantial milestone for the EADS technical team who have been spearheading this algae fuel project.
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