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posted by
CoolHand
on Tuesday November 15 2016, @08:27PM
from the if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest-can-i-join-the-mile-high-club dept.
from the if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest-can-i-join-the-mile-high-club dept.
Washington state-based Alaska Airlines today made history flying the first commercial flight using the world's first renewable, alternative jet fuel made from forest residuals, the limbs and branches that remain after the harvesting of managed forests.
The fuel used a 20 percent blend of sustainable aviation biofuel.
While 20% doesn't seem like much (it's still 80% aviation fuel), if the airline were able to replace 20 percent of its entire fuel supply at Sea-Tac Airport (from which it took off), it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 142,000 metric tons of CO2. This is equivalent to taking approximately 30,000 passenger vehicles off the road for one year.
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Alaska Airlines Makes History With Bio-Fuel Flight
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The Official Colorado State Vegetable is now the "state legislator".
(Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 15 2016, @08:43PM
Our next innovation will be to sacrifice a passenger to fuel the plane, thereby reducing our fuel costs to zero, and as an added bonus, one unlucky individual will pay us for the privilege. Selection to be made based on social media profiling, and whoever has the least number of friends and likes will be selected. You there, loser who doesn't have a facebook account, you will be fuel for this flight. No one will miss you because according to society, you already don't exist. Now get in the engine and die.
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Tuesday November 15 2016, @08:47PM
If this were possible, then companies probably wouldn't be working to process wood (!) into jet fuel--we'd be doing some variation of this instead, for financial reasons.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday November 15 2016, @09:13PM
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-military-biofuels-idUSBRE86E01N20120715 [reuters.com]
Biofuel is old news in the air force, they were at this stage like five years ago.
Which makes the speculation about human powered dept of defense vehicles so interesting. No more Guantanamo Bay, no more Cushing Hub price for Arab oil, you'll have like the Cushing Hub price for Arabs. No more arab oil in my tanks tanks, I got arabs in my tanks tanks. Kinda changes the meaning of "blood for oil" as in the old rallying cry of "no blood for oil".
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Tuesday November 15 2016, @10:17PM
The military has different motivations for biofuels, namely energy independence and infrastructure independence.
Energy independence currently could be argued for the USA in wartime - oil output is at record highs and with wartime rationing (think world war) the domestic output may be able to sustain the military.
Infrastructure independence is a larger concern in this modern era, as it can apply to small operations, depending on scale. Being able to refine fuels without costly infrastructure like an oil refinery provides resiliency to destruction of said refinery. I remember reading about research into hydrogen or ammonia as a fuel that can be produced in the field with air, water, and energy. Supply chains become less critical and operations can occur in remote locations more easily.
(Score: 2) by mendax on Wednesday November 16 2016, @01:14AM
Hell, the Russians have been fiddling with something like this for quite a while. Ilyushin, the aircraft manufacturer, was working with an engine manufacturer to burn something other than jet kerosene. Their approach was to use natural gas, but as you know, methane can be a biofuel. I suspect they were looking for some sort of competitive edge, as Russian airliners generally don't sell all that well outside of Russia because they are less efficient than Airbus and Boeing offerings. A pity--Russian airliners are tough and reliable--tanks with wings.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 15 2016, @09:57PM
It's people! Soylent JP is people!
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 15 2016, @10:17PM
As usual, the famous movie quote is modded up. Had the famous movie been a designated comedy, the movie quote would have been designated funny. In this case the famous movie is a sci-fi thriller, so insightful will suffice.
As usual, idiots like familiar things. Good work, AC. Your unoriginal banality will ensure your social success in all endeavors.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 15 2016, @10:22PM
Thank you for the compliment, and for providing the set-up.