Published on February 18th, 2010
British Airways has announced plans to source a part of its fuel supplies from waste municipal waste to fuel plant. The company plans to procure 16 million gallons of green jet fuel annually from the Solena plant that would come up in London.
The plant which is expected to come online in 2014 would convert 50,000 tonnes of municipal waste into jet-grade fuel. The volume of fuel supplied initially would be 2 percent of the total fuel consumption of British Airways. This would cut down on the carbon emissions that is generated due to the conventional jet fuel, kerosene.
British Airways aims to obtain 10 percent of its jet fuel waste-to-energy processes.
Waste to energy process provides a three pronged advantage. One, it helps in the management of the ever increasing waste in the cities, two, it converts the methane (an efficient fuel and a greenhouse gas) which is produce from the decomposition of municipal waste and, third, its use results in reduction in carbon emissions. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on November 24th, 2009
Mad scientists don’t usually hang around in Switzerland, tinkering around with their crazy ideas and running after them down the asphalt.
Thankfully Bertrand Piccard, who flew the Breitling Orbiter hot air balloon around the world in 1999, isn’t mad. In fact, this idea may just fly.
In 2003 he and the Solar Impulse Foundation announced their intention to fly a Solar Powered Plane around the world. In 2007, they started to build it.
Now the plane has taken it’s first small, but confident, steps. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on October 10th, 2009
The US Air Force has placed an order for 100,000 gallons of Camelina-based jet fuel, in addition to the 40,000 gallons the Navy ordered last month for $2.7 million, with delivery to begin this year. Sustainable Oils is supplying them with a biofuel grown in Montana with 80% lower carbon emissions than jet fuels now.
The US Air Force has ordered an additional 100,000 gallons of Camelina for their second round of flight tests starting next June. The DOD is trying to find a non food-competitive biofuel that can be blended with jetfuel to reduce carbon emissions and is running tests on several kinds of alternative fuels.
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Published on October 7th, 2009
Flying into Israel’s soon-to-be solar powered Ben Gurion Airport may feel like arriving in the “promised land” for more than just those with vested religious interests. Located just outside Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem, the airport has made plans to install 50 kilowatts of solar energy in order to cleanly power the country’s largest international portal. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on September 28th, 2009
By 2011 the US Army’s Space & Missile Defense Command has plans to deploy a spy ship, which will be unmanned over Afghanistan. While this is a controversial move in itself, some eco-enthusiasts are applauding the consideration to model the aircraft after an experimental hybrid airship which took flight on a number of occasions in 2006.
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Published on September 17th, 2009
Air travel is a major contributor to climate change. Offsets are a small part of a larger solution.
Today at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) we are launching the Climate Passport program allowing travelers to offset the impact of their air travel through an airport kiosk. This will be the world’s first airport kiosk—giving people the opportunity to calculate the environmental impact of their flights and purchase carbon offsets to address that impact while at the airport. Read the rest of this entry »
