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 most significant market program in Las Vegas luxury jets are enticing purchasers with their smooth silhouettes, plush cabins - and significantly, their use of alternative fuels.

Fuel producers and jetmakers are keen to types of aviation fuel considered less harmful to the environment, from used cooking oil to the clearly less attractive meat waste.

Business jet operators, like airline companies, have bowed to ecological pressure on air travel and devoted to halving carbon emissions by 2050 compared to 2005.

Their hope is that embracing sustainable fuel to suppress emissions could make organization jets more appealing to environmentally conscious purchasers - particularly corporations dealing with concerns over sustainability from shareholders or green project groups.

The accessibility of less contaminating private jets could also spare the rich and popular the negative publicity experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan over a recent private jet trip to southern France.

Five Gulfstream jets on display screen in Las Vegas are utilizing California-produced fuel from inedible beef tallow.

The latest waste-based fuels include "fats, grease and oils that are byproducts of the food market," said Bryan Sherbacow, primary business officer of Boston-based biofuel manufacturer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste used by Gulfstream.

"All of our product is inedible."

A few of the other 79 aircraft on display screen are anticipated to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other sustainable fuel mixes anticipated to be pumped at the show.

FLIGHT SHAMING

Private jets account for less than 0.1% of total yearly carbon emissions worldwide, but can discharge, on average, up to 20 times more carbon emissions per passenger mile than jetliners, according to the London-based private charter firm Victor.

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

But planemakers state events such as the furore over his itinerary have included fresh obstacles for an industry currently aiming to justify its contribution to cutting business expenses.

"Incidents of flight shaming including the use of personal jets are unfortunate when you think about that our market has provided fuel effectiveness improvements of 40% over the past 40 years," said Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.

Bombardier believes increased sustainable fuel usage will assist the industry 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 including alternative fuel pumps for going to planes - is not likely to satisfy all critics at the Oct 22-24 luxury jet occasion.

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

"No amount of jatropha curcas or Brazil-nut fuel can make business jets look eco-friendly," said aviation expert Richard Aboulafia.

Demand from service 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, could expand production up to 150 million gallons by 2022.

Corporate charter business and consultants are also seeing more interest from clients who wish 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 usage study his company just recently completed for a Fortune 500 business.

"At the end of the day, I think that price, cost per hour, range, speed and efficiency, that's still the (sales) motorist. But I believe people are becoming more knowledgeable about the sustainability of operations and how it affects the planet." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)