By Allison Lampert
LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world's biggest industry show in Las Vegas luxury jets are
drawing purchasers with their smooth shapes, plush cabins - and progressively, their use of alternative fuels.
Fuel producers and jetmakers are eager to display unique types of air travel fuel deemed less hazardous to the environment, from used cooking oil to the noticeably less glamorous meat waste.
Business jet operators, like airlines, have actually bowed to ecological pressure on air travel and dedicated to halving carbon emissions by 2050 compared to 2005.
Their hope is that adopting renewable fuel to suppress emissions could make company jets more attractive to ecologically mindful purchasers - specifically corporations facing questions over sustainability from investors or green campaign groups.
The accessibility of less contaminating personal jets might also spare the rich and famous the unfavorable publicity experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his wife 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 most recent waste-based fuels include "fats, grease and oils that are by-products of the food industry," stated Bryan Sherbacow, primary commercial officer of Boston-based
biofuel manufacturer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste used by Gulfstream.
"All of our item is inedible."
Some of the other 79 airplane on display are anticipated to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other sustainable fuel mixes anticipated to be pumped at the show.
FLIGHT SHAMING
Private jets represent less than 0.1% of overall annual carbon emissions internationally, however can emit, usually, approximately 20 times more
carbon emissions per traveler mile than jetliners, according to the London-based personal charter company Victor.
Prince Harry has protected his periodic use of private jets to guarantee his family's safety, and has stated that on the uncommon events he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.
But planemakers say events such as the furore over his travel plan have added fresh challenges for a market currently aiming to justify its contribution to cutting corporate costs.
"Incidents of flight shaming involving making use of private jets are unfortunate when you consider that our market has actually delivered fuel performance improvements of 40% over the past 40 years," stated Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.
Bombardier thinks increased sustainable fuel use will assist the market make inroads with corporations and wealthy buyers. According to industry data, billionaires just have a 19% service jet ownership rate.
But even an image makeover - with jets sporting sticker labels like "this airplane flies on sustainable fuels" and organisers including alternative fuel pumps for checking out planes - is unlikely to please all
critics at the Oct 22-24 high-end jet occasion.
Environmentalists and some analysts stay skeptical that biojetfuels, generally mixed 50-50 with kerosene, will make a significant influence on public understandings about luxury travel.
"No quantity of
Jatropha or Brazil-nut fuel can make service jets look eco-friendly," said air travel expert Richard Aboulafia.
Demand from business jet operators for
sustainable fuels now far surpasses supply and their interest might drive future production, Sherbacow stated.
World Energy, which produces 40 million gallons of
biofuel at its California plant, could
broaden production as much as 150 million gallons by 2022.
Corporate charter companies and consultants are also seeing more interest from consumers who desire to purchase carbon credits to offset emissions from their flights.
Brian Proctor, CEO of Mente Group, a U.S. consultancy, said emissions played a function in a corporate jet usage research study his company recently finished 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) chauffeur. But I think people are becoming more conscious of the sustainability of operations and how it affects the planet." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)
