Green Machine: 'Breakthrough' fuel for Virgin flights

Chelsea Whyte, reporter

Off we go, into the wild green yonder. Commercial airlines company Virgin Atlantic has announced plans to make jet fuel from industrial waste.

"With oil running out, it is important that new fuel solutions are sustainable and, with the steel industry alone able to deliver over 15 billion gallons of jet fuel annually, the potential is very exciting," said Richard Branson, Virgin's chief executive officer.?

Virgin Atlantic claims that its new fuel has half the carbon footprint of standard fossil fuels. "This new technology is scalable, sustainable and can be commercially produced at a cost comparable to conventional jet fuel," Branson said.

The airline is partnering with LanzaTech, a New Zealand company that has developed the technology to recycle waste gases created by the steel and manufacturing industries into aviation fuel.

(Image: Lanzatech)

The process starts by injecting industrial carbon-monoxide-laden waste gasses into a bioreactor where microbes are waiting to feast on the carbon. They transform the useless waste product into a fermented alcohol.

It then flows into a tank where the fuel and chemical by-products are separated. The resulting liquids can be used directly as fuel in some cases, or as ingredients to mix in to "drop-in" fuels, which work without modifications to standard machinery.?

Jennifer Holmgren, chief executive of LanzaTech, told the Wall Street Journal that the technology will enable airlines to "dramatically reduce their carbon footprint by reusing gases that would otherwise have been emitted directly into the atmosphere."

Virgin plans to use the fuels on its flights between London's Heathrow airport and Delhi and Shanghai.

Other airlines, including Lufthansa, Qantas, and Air New Zealand have begun using plant-based biofuels, motivated by looming emissions caps set by the European Union. Starting January 1, 2012, the airline industry will have to pay for excess CO2 emitted.

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/1932ae42/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Conepercent0C20A110C10A0Cgreen0Emachine0Ebreakthrough0Efue0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

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