Fri, Mar 19, 2010
Concerns Raised The Feedstocks Will Compete With Land
Used For Farming Food
Airlines will likely fly using fuel
made from plant sources rather than petroleum-based jet fuel within
the next 10 years. The forecast was made during the World Biofuels
Markets conference held this week in Amsterdam.
But not everyone is thrilled at the prospects of the airlines
"going green". The Associated Press reports that the Global Forest
Coalition, which is an alliance of several environmental groups,
fears the demand for fuel stocks will cause more rapid destruction
of the tropical rain forest, and could also cause crops raised for
fuel to compete for farmland with crops raised for food.
The aviation community at the conference said that the industry
is concentrating on fuel stocks that have a minimal effect on the
environment. Some, like camelina, are used as a "rotation crop" in
Europe and North America to add nutrients back to depleted soil.
And one airline, British Airways, is part of a pilot project that
would create jet fuel from waste that would otherwise wind up in a
landfill.
Several airlines have already tested a mix of biofuels and
standard jet fuel on trans-Atlantic flights. Boeing Environmental
Spokesman Terrance Scott said there are projects that seek to
create fuel from plants that grow in salt water. Other companies
are exploring a certain algae that produces a burnable fuel as a
waste by-product. Scott said biofuels are likely to be approved for
commercial use by the end of the year.
FAA representative Mark Rumizen
said "We have developed advanced biofuels that are safe and can be
grown in a sustainable manner." And IATA's Thomas Roetger
said that "everything looks promising" for biofuels to possibly
largely replace petroleum-based fuels within the next decade.
The European Union has mandated that all flights into and out of
European airports will be subject to the European carbon trading
program, a "Cap and Trade" type program for carbon credits, by
2012.
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