Airline Crisis Boosts Biofuel Drive

Algae and nuts are among the alternative sources of fuel being considered by an increasingly skittish aviation industry as an alternative to petroleum, whose price rises threaten airlines with bankruptcy.

With oil prices poised to break through the US$150 a barrel barrier, biofuels based on sources of energy like these no longer seem far-fetched — but they will take years to develop and no-one will be flying in a farm-fuelled jet any time soon.
Discussion about potential alternatives to help airlines cope with high fuel prices and meet environmental requirements buzzed round the chalets at the Farnborough air show this week, as aerospace firms vied to show off their green credentials.

Environmentalists, however, said it was empty talk.

“At US$70 a barrel, people were saying ‘it is never going to happen’. At US$150 a barrel, it starts to look interesting,” said Ric Parker, Rolls-Royce’s research and technology head.

The British engine maker said this week it was starting a scientific test programme with British Airways to investigate alternative aviation fuels.

Planet Ark