Earth Equity News

Will Greener Planes Ever Fly? Posted by Christopher Flavelle, Slate, July 22, 2008. "Last week, Continental, Delta, and American, three of the country's largest airlines, announced combined second-quarter losses of nearly $2.5 billion, the worst downturn... since... 9/11... In the short run, airlines will try to make up some of that shortfall by raising fees and slashing service. But over the longer haul, they need to start looking at... a different kind of plane and a different kind of fuel... The FAA has launched a partnership with industry groups called the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuel Initiative (PDF), which includes a goal of certifying a 50-50 blend of synthetic and petroleum jet fuel for commercial use by the end of 2008. The American Society for Testing and Materials, an international standards group that sets the specifications for commercial fuel, expects to vote on the use of synthetic fuel before the end of this month. And on July 10, the Department of Transportation announced an FAA grant for a new $10 million X-Prize for the first commercially viable alternative jet fuel. The FAA is also cooperating with the Air Force, which aims to qualify all its planes to fly on 50% synthetic fuel by early 2011... Synthetic fuel can be greener fuel, depending on how it's produced... Airlines like Lufthansa and JetBlue are looking at biomass, including algae, as a power source, but for the moment those plans seem more significant for their publicity value than their near-term utility. Can money-losing airlines... take solace from any of this? Not in the short term. But if the government program can actually create a domestic market for synthetic fuel, and if companies like Bombardier and Boeing can think beyond 'tubes with wings' -- big ifs -- then the battered domestic airline industry might be able to count on something even more important than profits: a future."