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 greatest market show in Las Vegas luxury jets are enticing purchasers with their sleek silhouettes, plush cabins - and significantly, their usage of alternative fuels.

Fuel producers and jetmakers are eager to display unique kinds of aviation fuel deemed less damaging to the climate, from used cooking oil to the distinctly less glamorous meat waste.

Business jet operators, like airlines, have actually bowed to environmental pressure on aviation and dedicated to halving carbon emissions by 2050 compared with 2005.

Their hope is that embracing renewable fuel to suppress emissions could make organization jets more appealing to environmentally conscious purchasers - especially corporations facing questions over sustainability from shareholders or green campaign groups.

The availability of less contaminating private jets might likewise spare the rich and famous the unfavorable promotion experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan over a current personal jet trip to southern France.

Five Gulfstream jets on display screen in Las Vegas are utilizing 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," said Bryan Sherbacow, chief business officer of Boston-based biofuel producer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste utilized by Gulfstream.

"All of our item is inedible."

Some of the other 79 aircraft on display are expected to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other renewable fuel mixes anticipated to be pumped at the program.

FLIGHT SHAMING

Private jets represent less than 0.1% of total yearly carbon emissions internationally, but can emit, on average, approximately 20 times more carbon emissions per traveler mile than jetliners, according to the London-based personal charter firm Victor.

Prince Harry has defended his periodic use of personal jets to ensure his household's security, and has stated that on the rare events he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.

But planemakers say occurrences such as the furore over his schedule have actually added fresh challenges for a market already striving to validate its contribution to cutting business expenses.

"Incidents of flight shaming involving the use of personal jets are unfortunate when you consider that our market has actually provided fuel performance improvements of 40% over the previous 40 years," stated Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.

Bombardier believes increased sustainable fuel use will assist the market make inroads with corporations and rich purchasers. According to industry information, billionaires just have a 19% company jet ownership rate.

But even an image transformation - with jets sporting sticker labels like "this aircraft flies on sustainable fuels" and alternative fuel pumps for visiting planes - is not likely to satisfy all critics at the Oct 22-24 high-end jet occasion.

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

"No quantity of Jatropha or Brazil-nut fuel can make business jets look eco-friendly," said aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia.

Demand from company jet operators for eco-friendly fuels now far exceeds supply and their interest might drive future production, Sherbacow said.

World Energy, which produces 40 million gallons of biofuel at its California plant, might broaden production approximately 150 million gallons by 2022.

Corporate charter companies and consultants are likewise seeing more interest from clients who want 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 corporate jet utilization study his company just recently finished for a Fortune 500 company.

"At the end of the day, I think that price, cost per hour, range, speed and performance, that's still the (sales) chauffeur. But I think individuals are ending up being more familiar with the sustainability of operations and how it impacts the world." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)