United Airlines has united with two partners, AltAir Fuels and Fulcrum BioEnergy, to fly on sustainable alternative fuels. Think of each flight being cleaner, using what formerly were unusable, land-fill-bound waste products, and certain to make United more sustainable, and flights less costly. Earlier efforts at producing biofuels relied on converting food, such as corn, into fuel, an uneconomical process that raised food prices and often used more energy than it produced in ethanol, for instance. This was not sustainable and didn’t allow economic benefits for its users, so fell into disrepute quickly. Organizations like the United Nations spoke out against taking grains from the poorest among us to make fuels for jetsetters. In their 2009 report, UNEP, the United Nations Environment Program, calculated that up to 34 percent of arable land would be required to produce the fuel necessary to maintain current Powerful firms sometimes take farms from poor communities in third-world countries to produce biofuels, adding human misery …
Garbage to Gasoline, Waste to Wattage?
Dr. Seeley provided several links that reminded this writer of an earlier effort to convert the debris of our affluence into something other than effluent. A Daily Press report from December 21, 2010 by Cory Nealon, showed that at least one lawmaker is aware that there is a “green” aviation industry. “U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., is spearheading a potential multibillion-dollar endeavor to make Hampton Roads a leader in the emerging field of green aviation. “The effort, which would draw on the region’s rich history of aeronautics research, is in its initial stages of development, Warner said Tuesday. “Preliminary plans include tapping NASA Langley Research Center and partner organizations, such as the National Institute of Aerospace and Science and Technology Corp., all of which are based in Hampton.” The local nature of Senator Warner’s efforts is informative, considering the global nature of climate change and shrinking fossil fuel energy supply issues that must be addressed. Kerry Reals, writing in Flight Global, forecasts …