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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 show in Las Vegas high-end jets are enticing purchasers with their streamlined silhouettes, plush cabins - and significantly, their use of alternative fuels.

Fuel manufacturers and jetmakers are eager to display novel forms of aviation fuel deemed less hazardous to the climate, from utilized cooking oil to the distinctly 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 embracing sustainable fuel to suppress emissions could make service jets more appealing to ecologically conscious buyers - especially corporations dealing with questions over sustainability from investors or groups.

The availability of less contaminating personal jets might also spare the abundant and popular the negative promotion experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his other half Meghan over a recent private jet trip to southern France.

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

The newest 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 producer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste utilized by Gulfstream.

"All of our product is inedible."

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

FLIGHT SHAMING

Private jets represent less than 0.1% of total annual carbon emissions worldwide, however can release, typically, up to 20 times more carbon emissions per passenger mile than jetliners, according to the London-based private charter company Victor.

Prince Harry has actually safeguarded his occasional use of personal jets to ensure his family's safety, and has said that on the rare events he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.

But planemakers say occurrences such as the furore over his itinerary have included fresh challenges for a market currently striving to validate its contribution to cutting corporate costs.

"Incidents of flight shaming including the usage of private jets are regrettable when you think about that our market has delivered fuel performance improvements of 40% over the previous 40 years," stated Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.

Bombardier thinks increased sustainable fuel use will help the industry make inroads with corporations and wealthy buyers. According to market information, billionaires just have a 19% company jet ownership rate.

But even an image transformation - with jets sporting stickers like "this airplane flies on sustainable fuels" and organisers adding alternative fuel pumps for visiting airplanes - is not likely to please all critics at the Oct 22-24 high-end jet occasion.

Environmentalists and some experts remain hesitant that biojetfuels, generally combined 50-50 with kerosene, will make a significant influence on public perceptions about high-end travel.

"No quantity of jatropha curcas or Brazil-nut fuel can make organization jets look eco-friendly," stated aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia.

Demand from service jet operators for sustainable fuels now far goes beyond supply and their interest might drive future production, Sherbacow stated.

World Energy, which produces 40 million gallons of biofuel at its California plant, might broaden production up to 150 million gallons by 2022.

Corporate charter companies and consultants are likewise seeing more interest from customers who wish to buy carbon credits to balance out emissions from their flights.

Brian Proctor, CEO of Mente Group, a U.S. consultancy, stated emissions contributed in a business jet utilization research study his business recently finished for a Fortune 500 company.

"At the end of the day, I believe that cost, expense per hour, range, speed and performance, that's still the (sales) chauffeur. But I think people are becoming more knowledgeable about the sustainability of operations and how it impacts the world." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)