HISTORIC BIOFUEL FLIGHT CROSSES USA

The worldwide airline industry is actually only responsible for something like 3% of the world’s CO2 emissions. However, planes emit the gases in one of the worst possible places, right up in the sky. Therefore, if we were to think green, then reducing the damage this industry does to our planet is quite important. Couple this with the fact that modern marketing has an obsession with the word ‘bio’ and here you have it: the world’s first biofuel flight.

To be honest, this does not seem to be a long-term solution, yet just an example of a voyage made out of principle. It is a way of saying ‘look how we are trying, even though it is quite unrealistic’. The first biofuel flight across the USA travelled 1776 out of 2486 miles purely on biofuel and took place between Florida and Nevada. The fuel was made from a blend of animal fats and turned into diesel. This will not, however, be the final flight in the biodiesel category as a number of other green flights are set to take place next year.

Continental Airlines Inc. are set to fly their first biofuel flight in January next year, using a mixture of algae and jatropha plant extract to keep the craft in the air. On a similar note, Air New Zealand and Boeing are set to join forces and create a green flight also next year.

It seems that the obsession with the notion of ‘bio’ does not only belong to the food industry, yet is also creeping into the travel sector. As long as people believe that they are doing a favour to the environment, they will put money into it. As long as marketing people and businesses are aware of this, the words ‘green’ and ‘bio’ shall appear more and more regularly on the advertising material.