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1 Clean Getaway: Meat Waste Joins Biofuels At Luxury Jet Show

By Allison Lampert

LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world's most significant market program in Las Vegas luxury jets are drawing buyers with their streamlined silhouettes, plush cabins - and increasingly, their use of alternative fuels.

Fuel producers and jetmakers are keen to showcase novel kinds of aviation fuel considered less harmful to the environment, from utilized cooking oil to the noticeably less glamorous meat waste.

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

Their hope is that adopting sustainable fuel to suppress emissions might make business jets more attractive to ecologically mindful buyers - particularly corporations dealing with concerns over sustainability from investors or green campaign groups.

The schedule of less polluting private jets might also spare the abundant and famous the negative promotion experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his spouse Meghan over a recent private jet trip to southern France.

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

The current waste-based fuels consist of "fats, grease and oils that are by-products of the food market," stated Bryan Sherbacow, primary industrial officer of Boston-based biofuel manufacturer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste utilized by Gulfstream.

"All of our item is inedible."

Some of the other 79 airplane on screen are expected to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other renewable fuel blends anticipated to be pumped at the show.

FLIGHT SHAMING

Private jets account for less than 0.1% of total yearly carbon emissions worldwide, but can give off, usually, as much as 20 times more carbon emissions per guest mile than jetliners, according to the London-based private charter company Victor.

Prince Harry has actually safeguarded his periodic use of private jets to ensure his household's safety, and has actually said that on the unusual events he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.

But planemakers say incidents such as the furore over his schedule have actually included fresh challenges for an industry currently making every effort to justify its contribution to cutting corporate costs.

"Incidents of flight shaming including making use of private jets are regrettable when you think about that our market has delivered fuel efficiency enhancements of 40% over the past 40 years," said Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.

thinks increased sustainable fuel usage will help the market make inroads with corporations and wealthy buyers. According to industry data, billionaires only have a 19% organization jet ownership rate.

But even an image remodeling - with jets sporting stickers like "this airplane flies on renewable fuels" and organisers adding alternative fuel pumps for visiting airplanes - is unlikely to please all critics at the Oct 22-24 high-end jet event.

Environmentalists and some experts stay skeptical that biojetfuels, typically combined 50-50 with kerosene, will make a significant influence on public perceptions about luxury travel.

"No amount of Jatropha or Brazil-nut fuel can make business jets look eco-friendly," said air travel analyst Richard Aboulafia.

Demand from organization jet operators for renewable fuels now far surpasses supply and their interest might drive future production, Sherbacow said.

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 companies and experts are likewise seeing more interest from customers who desire to purchase carbon credits to balance out emissions from their flights.

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

"At the end of the day, I believe that cost, expense per hour, variety, speed and performance, that's still the (sales) driver. But I think people are ending up being more mindful of the sustainability of operations and how it affects the world." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)