By Allison Lampert
LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world's biggest industry show in Las Vegas high-end jets are enticing buyers with their sleek silhouettes, luxurious cabins - and progressively, their usage of alternative fuels.
Fuel producers and jetmakers are eager to showcase unique types of air travel fuel deemed less harmful to the climate, from utilized cooking oil to the distinctly less attractive meat waste.
Business jet operators, like airline companies, have bowed to environmental pressure on air travel and devoted to cutting in half carbon emissions by 2050 compared to 2005.
Their hope is that adopting eco-friendly fuel to curb emissions might make organization jets more attractive to ecologically conscious purchasers - particularly corporations facing questions over sustainability from shareholders or green campaign groups.
The availability of less polluting private jets could likewise spare the abundant and famous the unfavorable promotion 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 using California-produced fuel from inedible beef tallow.
The most current waste-based fuels include "fats, grease and oils that are byproducts of the food market," stated Bryan Sherbacow, primary industrial officer of Boston-based biofuel producer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste used by Gulfstream.
"All of our item is inedible."
Some of the other 79 aircraft on display are anticipated to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other eco-friendly fuel blends expected to be pumped at the show.
FLIGHT SHAMING
Private jets represent less than 0.1% of overall annual carbon emissions worldwide, but can give off, typically, as much as 20 times more carbon emissions per traveler mile than jetliners, according to the London-based private charter company Victor.
Prince Harry has actually defended his occasional use of private jets to guarantee his family's safety, and has actually stated that on the unusual celebrations he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.
But planemakers say occurrences such as the furore over his itinerary have added fresh obstacles for a market currently striving to justify its contribution to cutting corporate expenses.
"Incidents of flight shaming involving making use of private jets are regrettable when you think about that our industry has provided fuel efficiency enhancements of 40% over the previous 40 years," stated Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.
Bombardier believes increased sustainable fuel use will help the market make inroads with corporations and rich buyers. According to industry data, billionaires only have a 19% service jet ownership rate.
But even an image remodeling - with jets sporting stickers like "this airplane flies on renewable fuels" and organisers adding alternative fuel pumps for visiting planes - is unlikely to satisfy all critics at the Oct 22-24 luxury jet occasion.
Environmentalists and some analysts stay doubtful that biojetfuels, usually mixed 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 service jets look eco-friendly," said air travel analyst Richard Aboulafia.
Demand from service jet operators for renewable fuels now far surpasses supply and their interest could drive future production, Sherbacow said.
World Energy, which produces 40 million gallons of biofuel at its California plant, could expand production approximately 150 million gallons by 2022.
Corporate charter companies and experts are also seeing more interest from clients 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 corporate jet utilization research study his business just recently completed for a Fortune 500 business.
"At the end of the day, I think that price, cost per hour, variety, speed and efficiency, that's still the (sales) chauffeur. But I think people are ending up being more familiar with the sustainability of operations and how it impacts the planet." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)
