Spin Focus: The sky is Green?

The Future of Eco-Friendly Air Travel

With the holiday season officially in full swing here in the U.S more than likely you or someone close to you will be traveling in the near future. While some of these trips are as simple as a car ride across the state or to a mountain cabin some 48,000 Americans still chose to fly to their thanksgiving and other holiday gatherings.

The number of people choosing to fly for the holidays has gone up by 4% from last year and is expect to rise again as we come closer to Christmas and New Years. Regardless of the reason for this shift (high gas prices, large distances or a desire to escape the snow) this means more flights, more fuel consumption and thus more emissions than previous years.

Needless to say in an industry that makes its money with fossil fuel powered vehicles carbon emissions and environmental impact appear to be necessary evils for the time being. But soon all this may be a thing of the past as bio fuels and carbon offsetting techniques take a stab at fixing our flying problem.

Other than the obvious burning of fuel as a source of increased carbon emissions and the massive fuel demands of take off and landing such large vehicles flying also means that these harmful toxins are released much closer to the ozone layer and often over the ocean.

Transcontinental flights spend the majority of their flight burning fuel in the jet stream above Earths major oceans causing the emissions that include not only vapor but also unburned particles to collect in the ocean and upper atmosphere causing the thinning of the ozone layer, increased acidic levels in the ocean and a toxic jet stream effecting areas that flights may never have directly passed through or even near.

With all this caused by flights it’s hard to imagine that any realistic solution short of ceasing flights in their entirety will be even a loose step in the right direction. However some pioneers in biofuels think they are blazing a trail to cleaner travel and clearer skies.

Using mixes of biomaterial and traditional jet fuel Alaskan Airlines and United Airlines are hoping to reduce the carbon emissions of aviation and work towards a sustainable industry. The fuel sources are comprised of about 20 to 50% biofuel made from ethanol, algae and even fast food oil and grease waste while the rest of the mix is still traditional petroleum based jet fuel.

While innovations like turbo prop planes and more efficient jet engines are decreasing the fuel consumption of flight the average commercial flight still burns around 900 gallons of fuel per hour of sustained flight.

Only 15,000 gallons of bio fuel will be introduced into the mix over a test period of 75 flights for Alaskan airlines going from Seattle Washington to Portland Oregon with biofuels making up a small portion of the fuel mix coupled with an efficient turbo prop powered Q400 and Boeing 737 the hope is that emissions will decrease and further research can be conducted using these flights as real world tests to improve and further develop the technology.

The biofuels are made from algae, ethanol (corn and sugar cane based) and used cooking oils and grease. This is similar to the work we have seen from the NASCAR racing series and Formula One (both have switched from Brazilian sugar cane based ethanol to American corn based ethanol) these efforts have changed an industry making for a greener sport, decreased emissions and new jobs in a developing industry creating biofuels for companies like Sunoco energy.

These jobs will not only work to decrease the carbon emissions of the travel industry but will also become staples in a new green economy helping to bolster Americas economic future and energy independence in a world where oil is the only other alternative.

An article in Popular mechanics written in 2007 shed some light on algae fermentation into a biofuel by simplifying the process into cultivating algae in plastic chambers filled with water which periodically have carbon dioxide bubbled through them. When the Algae proliferate it produces a harvestable oil, which can be fermented into ethanol and used in biofuel production.

Not only are we creating a new energy source with this algae solution be we also scrub carbon dioxide and other harmful chemicals out of air though this fermentation process. The hope is that companies such as Fort Collins Colorado based Solix energy will be able to mass-produce this new fuel alongside other fuel production sites such as currently existing power plants still relying on coal.

The off gassing of carbon dioxide from these coal based plants will then be used to spur further production of Algae to make ethanol and reduce the need for corn based ethanol which has already been ruled out as a viable solution do to its detrimental effect on the soil it is grown in (massive nutrient requirement) as well as its consumption of a food source for fuel.

Well as with all my other post its time to rain on everyone’s parade. Some of the major problems facing biofuel are things I have already touched on when looking at other modes of transportation and green fuel sources. Bio fuels like those produced from cooking oil and algae have no existing supply train in order to meet the massive demand for these fuel alternatives. To meet the need companies are developing algae farms and fuel production centers however theses sites beyond the environmental cost of their construction in terms of carbon dioxide emission are all very expensive and unrealistic alternatives to the cheap and relatively plentiful petroleum based fuel sources we already rely on for air travel.

The average cost per gallon of bio fuel is around 17 dollars while traditional jet fuel is only 3. In an article by Mathew Wald in the New York Times the use of these expensive fuel sources is described as “using kobe beef to stretch supplies of hamburger helper”, which is to say overly expensive and illogical to corporations who make their bottom line providing travel options at affordable prices. I can’t imagine the 48,000 people flying are ready to pay significantly more for a service they are already getting for much less especially around the holidays. Sadly until advances are made this is just another feel good story with hope for the future.

So what are some things we as flyers can do to help reduce our carbon foot print. Well a new practice is emerging globally called carbon offset. The basic theory behind carbon offset is that as travelers we can calculate (using online carbon offset calculators) just what the dollar value of our environmental impact is and then use that amount to help fund carbon offset initiatives such as solar collection, wind farms or reforestation efforts.

This isn’t a bad idea if one feels strongly about our impact on the planet but tragically very few travelers have the time, income or awareness to contribute to the carbon offset initiatives. So what doe this leave us all with?

Well with technology ever advancing creating hyper efficient means of air travel coupled with new research into biofuels like algae the hope is that we may one day be able to achieve flight with a minimal or significantly decreased amount of carbon emission. Until this technology rises however we as travelers much accept that its our duty to travel only when necessary and to support carbon offset initiatives when ever travel becomes necessary.

I’m not preaching a non-mobile lifestyle only a more responsible one. The sooner we as a country rally behind these efforts the sooner this technology will rise into actuality and the sooner we can move onto other problems facing the environment. If anything its articles like this that give me hope for a sustainable energy independent future and a stronger America.