By Allison Lampert
LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world's greatest industry show in Las Vegas high-end jets are tempting purchasers with their sleek shapes, luxurious cabins - and increasingly, their usage of alternative fuels.
Fuel producers and jetmakers are keen to showcase novel kinds of aviation fuel considered less harmful to the climate, from utilized cooking oil to the clearly less glamorous meat waste.
Business jet operators, like airline companies, have actually acquiesced ecological pressure on air travel and committed to halving carbon emissions by 2050 compared with 2005.
Their hope is that adopting renewable fuel to suppress emissions could make service jets more attractive to environmentally mindful buyers - particularly corporations dealing with questions over sustainability from investors or green project groups.
The availability of less polluting personal jets might also spare the rich and well-known the negative publicity experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his other half Meghan over a recent personal jet journey to southern France.
Five Gulfstream jets on display in Las Vegas are using California-produced fuel from inedible beef tallow.
The most recent waste-based fuels consist of "fats, grease and oils that are byproducts of the food market," stated Bryan Sherbacow, primary commercial officer of Boston-based biofuel producer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste utilized by Gulfstream.
"All of our product is inedible."
Some of the other 79 airplane on display are expected to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other eco-friendly fuel blends expected to be pumped at the show.
FLIGHT SHAMING
Private jets represent less than 0.1% of overall annual carbon emissions worldwide, however can emit, typically, as much as 20 times more carbon emissions per passenger mile than jetliners, according to the London-based private charter firm Victor.
Prince Harry has actually protected his periodic use of personal jets to ensure his household's safety, and has actually said that on the unusual occasions he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.
But planemakers state occurrences such as the furore over his schedule have added fresh difficulties for a market already aiming to validate its contribution to cutting corporate costs.
"Incidents of flight shaming including making use of personal jets are unfortunate when you consider that our market has delivered fuel performance enhancements of 40% over the past 40 years," stated Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.
Bombardier believes increased sustainable fuel usage will help the industry make inroads with corporations and wealthy buyers. According to industry information, billionaires just have a 19% organization jet ownership rate.
But even an image remodeling - with jets sporting sticker labels like "this airplane 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 high-end jet event.
Environmentalists and some analysts remain doubtful that biojetfuels, generally mixed 50-50 with kerosene, will make a significant influence on public understandings about high-end travel.
"No quantity of jatropha curcas or Brazil-nut fuel can make organization jets look eco-friendly," said aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia.
Demand from business jet operators for renewable fuels now far exceeds supply and their interest might drive future production, Sherbacow stated.
World Energy, which produces 40 million gallons of biofuel at its California plant, might expand production as much as 150 million gallons by 2022.
Corporate charter business and experts are likewise seeing more interest from consumers who wish to buy carbon credits to balance out emissions from their flights.
Brian Proctor, CEO of Mente Group, a U.S. consultancy, said a role in a business jet usage research study his business just recently finished for a Fortune 500 business.
"At the end of the day, I believe that cost, cost per hour, variety, speed and efficiency, that's still the (sales) motorist. But I think people are ending up being more conscious of the sustainability of operations and how it impacts the world." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)
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Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show
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