|
Obama spurs development of advanced aviation biofuels as part of national plan for energy security |
|
By GreenAir Online
April, 2011
Against a backdrop of Middle East instability and the volatility in crude oil prices, President Obama has called for a one-third reduction of all US oil imports by 2025. Unveiling a ‘Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future’, the President outlined a range of clean energy proposals including broadening investment in research and development of advanced biofuels and increasing the number of public transit options, such as high-speed rail, in order to reduce oil dependence. He challenged his Secretaries of Agriculture, Energy and the Navy to investigate how they can work together to speed the development of drop-in biofuels. “Competitively-priced drop-in biofuels could help meet the fuel needs of the Navy, as well as the commercial aviation and shipping sectors,” he said.
Avoiding any mention of the environment or climate change during his speech, Obama said the long-term trend on oil prices was upwards as countries like India and China grew rapidly and it was certain that demand for energy was growing much faster than supply.
“So here’s the bottom line – there are no quick fixes,” he said. “And we will keep on being a victim to shifts in the oil market until we get serious about a long-term policy for secure, affordable energy.
“We’ve known about the dangers of our oil dependence for decades. Presidents and politicians of every stripe have promised energy independence, but that promise has so far gone unmet. I’ve pledged to reduce America’s dependence on oil too, and I’m proud of the historic progress we’ve made over the last two years towards that goal. But we’ve also run into the same political gridlock and inertia that’s held us back for decades. That has to change.”
The President said renewable biofuels held tremendous promise as a substitute for oil, “not just ethanol, but biofuels made from things like switchgrass, wood chips and biomass.”
He added: “If anyone doubts the potential of these fuels, consider Brazil. Already, more than half of Brazil’s vehicles can run on biofuels. And just last week, our Air Force used an advanced biofuel blend to fly an F-22 Raptor faster than the speed of sound. In fact, the Air Force is aiming to get half of its domestic jet fuel from alternative sources by 2016. And I’m directing the Navy and the Departments of Energy and Agriculture to work with the private sector to create advanced biofuels that can power not just fighter jets, but trucks and commercial airliners.”
The directive was welcomed by the Air Transport Association of America (ATA).
“ATA and our members remain firm supporters of a comprehensive national energy policy that increases US energy security, is climate-friendly, and results in more predictable and stable energy supply and costs,” commented ATA President and CEO Nicholas Calio.
“We look forward to stepping up our work with the USDA, DOE and the nation’s military in furthering advanced biofuels development and deployment. This will build on our work with the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative, a coalition that ATA co-leads with the Federal Aviation Administration, the Strategic Alliance for Alternative Fuels initiative with the US military, and our Farm-to-Fly programme with USDA and Boeing to accelerate the availability of commercially viable, environmentally preferred alternative jet fuels.”
Launched in November 2007, GreenAir is an online publication dedicated to publishing independent, informative and up-to-the-minute news, features and statistics on current issues surrounding aviation and its impact on global warming and the environment. It has no association with industry, environmental pressure groups or government bodies and so is able to present opinions from all sides of this debate without fear or favour. For more information visit www.greenaironline.com. |
|
ASPIRE procedures move into regular operations as daily green flights across the Pacific become a reality |
|
By Greenair Online
February, 2011
Regular green flights across the Pacific took a step further yesterday with the first ‘ASPIRE-Daily City Pair’ flight from Auckland in New Zealand to San Francisco. The ASPIRE (Asia and South Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions) collaboration introduces advanced air traffic management routing procedures to reduce fuel burn and emissions. Five ASPIRE demonstration flights involving Air New Zealand, Qantas, United Airlines, Japan Airlines and Singapore Airlines have taken place since the launch of the programme in 2008. Data gathered from these flights indicated fuel savings of an average 4 per cent and up to 15,000kg reduction of CO2 emissions. Other ASPIRE-Daily routes will come on line over the next four months, with several routes across the Eastern and Western part of the Asia-Pacific region.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Algae technology company OriginOil to participate in pilot project as Mexico kick-starts jet biofuels industry |
|
By Greenair Online
February, 2011
US-based algae technology company OriginOil is to participate in a pilot scale algae project to be funded by the Mexican government as part of an initial substantial investment in large-scale jet fuels production in the country. The project is to be sited in Ensenada, Baja California, situated on the north-west Pacific coast of Mexico and considered an ideal environment for algae growth with abundant sunlight and access to seawater. Mexico has ambitions as a major producer of transport biofuels, not just to satisfy its own domestic needs but also at the huge US market across the border. Mexico’s largest airport operator Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares (ASA), responsible also for most of the jet fuel management in the country, is aiding in the development of a jet biofuels industry.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
ECO NEWS: Sea Turtles Win! |
|
By Bret Love, Green Global Travel
February, 2011
Think you've got a hard-knock life? Try being a sea turtle! Researchers estimate that only 5 our of every 200 sea turtles lives to maturity, with all species currently listed as either threatened or endangered (Leatherbacks, Kemp's Ridley and Hawksbills are currently considered critically endangered species). To make matters worse, the 2010 BP oil spill killed and disabled more sea turtles than any event in the past two decades, according to the National Wildlife Federation, the Sea Turtle Conservancy and the Florida Wildlife Federation.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Suing To Protect Polar Bears |
|
 By Bret Love, Green Global Travel
January, 2011
As if the polar bears didn't already have enough problems with melting polar ice caps and rising temperatures in the Arctic Circle, it was recently announced that the Obama Administration is considering allowing oil and gas development in their native habitat.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
European air traffic to almost double by 2030 despite airport capacity constraints, forecasts Eurocontrol |
|
By Greenair Online
January, 2011
Tue 25 Jan 2011 – According to the latest long-term forecast of flight movements in Europe, air traffic is expected to grow to 16.9 million flights in 2030, around 1.8 times more than in 2009. Eurocontrol estimates annual growth is anticipated to be between 1.6 per cent and 3.9 per cent, with 2.8 per cent the most likely.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
ECO NEWS: Avatar's 1 Million Trees |
|
By Bret Love, Green Global Travel
January, 2011
As someone who's always made part of his living as a pop culture critic, it’s easy to become cynical about Hollywood. But every once in a while (when they’re not churning out mediocre crap written by/for 12-year-olds) we hear about a celebrity doing something to make the world a better place,
|
|
Read more...
|
|
70% of UK Hotels are paying too much for Power |
|
By Green Hotelier
January, 2011
As forecasters predict one of the coldest winters on record, figures show* that as many as 70% of hotels could be paying too much for their gas and electricity.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Southwest Airlines begins flying advanced navigation procedures at 11 airports to reduce costs and emissions |
|
 By Greenair Online
January, 2011
Southwest Airlines this week begins flying Required Navigation Performance (RNP) efficient procedures at 11 US airports that will provide the ability to fly shorter flight paths and idle-thrust descents,
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Hong Kong International Airport pledges to reduce carbon intensity by a quarter within five years |
|
January, 2011
Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) and nearly 40 airport business partners have pledged to reduce Hong Kong International Airport’s (HKIA) carbon emissions by 25 per cent per workload unit – defined as equal to one passenger or 100kg of cargo – by 2015.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Trade News 
