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

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By Allison Lampert

LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world's biggest market program in Las Vegas high-end jets are luring buyers with their streamlined shapes, plush cabins - and significantly, their use of alternative fuels.

Fuel producers and jetmakers are eager to display novel kinds of air travel fuel deemed less harmful to the environment, from used cooking oil to the noticeably less glamorous meat waste.

Business jet operators, like airline companies, have bowed to ecological pressure on aviation and devoted to cutting in half carbon emissions by 2050 compared to 2005.

Their hope is that embracing eco-friendly fuel to suppress emissions might make service jets more appealing to ecologically conscious purchasers - specifically corporations facing questions over sustainability from shareholders or green campaign groups.

The schedule of less polluting private jets could likewise spare the abundant and popular the unfavorable publicity experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan over a recent personal jet journey to southern France.

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

The current waste-based fuels include "fats, grease and oils that are byproducts of the food industry," said Bryan Sherbacow, chief commercial officer of Boston-based biofuel producer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste utilized by Gulfstream.

"All of our product is inedible."

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

FLIGHT SHAMING

Private jets represent less than 0.1% of overall annual carbon internationally, however can emit, usually, approximately 20 times more carbon emissions per passenger mile than jetliners, according to the London-based personal charter firm Victor.

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

But planemakers state occurrences such as the furore over his itinerary have added fresh difficulties for a market already striving to validate 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 provided fuel effectiveness enhancements of 40% over the past 40 years," said Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.

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

But even an image transformation - with jets sporting sticker labels like "this aircraft flies on renewable fuels" and organisers including alternative fuel pumps for visiting aircrafts - is not likely to please all critics at the Oct 22-24 luxury jet occasion.

Environmentalists and some experts remain hesitant that biojetfuels, typically combined 50-50 with kerosene, will make a considerable impact on public understandings about luxury travel.

"No amount of Jatropha or Brazil-nut fuel can make organization jets look eco-friendly," said aviation expert Richard Aboulafia.

Demand from organization jet operators for eco-friendly 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 as much as 150 million gallons by 2022.

Corporate charter companies and experts are likewise seeing more interest from consumers who wish to purchase carbon credits to offset 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 completed for a Fortune 500 company.

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