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 biggest market program in Las Vegas high-end jets are drawing buyers with their sleek shapes, luxurious cabins - and significantly, their usage of alternative fuels.

Fuel producers and jetmakers are keen to display novel types of aviation fuel considered less hazardous to the climate, from utilized cooking oil to the clearly less attractive meat waste.

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

Their hope is that adopting sustainable fuel to suppress emissions could make business jets more attractive to environmentally mindful buyers - especially corporations dealing with questions over sustainability from investors or green campaign groups.

The schedule of less polluting personal jets could also spare the and well-known the negative promotion experienced by Britain's Prince Harry and his spouse Meghan over a recent private jet trip to southern France.

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

The current waste-based fuels consist of "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 used by Gulfstream.

"All of our item is inedible."

A few of the other 79 aircraft on screen are expected to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other eco-friendly fuel mixes expected to be pumped at the show.

FLIGHT SHAMING

Private jets represent less than 0.1% of overall yearly carbon emissions worldwide, but can produce, on average, up to 20 times more carbon emissions per passenger mile than jetliners, according to the London-based private charter company Victor.

Prince Harry has protected his occasional use of private jets to ensure his household's safety, and has actually stated that on the rare occasions he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.

But planemakers state incidents such as the furore over his schedule have actually added fresh difficulties for a market currently aiming to validate its contribution to cutting corporate expenses.

"Incidents of flight shaming involving the usage of personal jets are regrettable when you think about that our market has delivered fuel performance improvements of 40% over the past 40 years," said Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.

Bombardier thinks increased sustainable fuel usage will assist the industry make inroads with corporations and wealthy buyers. According to market data, billionaires just have a 19% business jet ownership rate.

But even an image transformation - with jets sporting sticker labels like "this aircraft flies on eco-friendly fuels" and organisers including alternative fuel pumps for visiting planes - is unlikely to please all critics at the Oct 22-24 high-end jet event.

Environmentalists and some experts remain skeptical that biojetfuels, typically blended 50-50 with kerosene, will make a considerable influence on public perceptions about high-end travel.

"No amount of jatropha curcas or Brazil-nut fuel can make business jets look eco-friendly," stated air travel analyst Richard Aboulafia.

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

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

Corporate charter companies and experts are also seeing more interest from clients who wish to buy carbon credits to offset emissions from their flights.

Brian Proctor, CEO of Mente Group, a U.S. consultancy, said emissions played a function in a corporate jet usage study his company recently completed for a Fortune 500 business.

"At the end of the day, I think that rate, expense per hour, range, speed and efficiency, that's still the (sales) driver. But I believe people are ending up being more familiar with the sustainability of operations and how it affects the world." (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)