You can not use smoke during a flight, but it seems your plane can. OR Boeing is working with South African Airways to start feeding its planes with a biofuel produced from a new kind of tobacco plant.
Biofuels work just like fossil fuels, but they are made from renewable sources, such as seaweed, wood, agricultural waste. Finding alternatives is a key target for the aviation industry because fuel is the largest airline's cost (representing one-third of all operating costs). In addition to saving money, the International Air Transport Association estimates that biofuels can reduce the overall carbon footprint of the industry by 80 per cent.
Boeing has several biofuel projects running on six continents. The last project, announced Wednesday, began in October when South African Airways approached the Seattle-based company to develop a sustainable biofuel supply chain. South Africa has committed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 34% by 2020 and 42% by 2025. South African Airways wants to use local biofuels by 2017.
Boeing and the airline have decided to use smoke instead of established biofuel sources such as seaweed. For biofuel to make sense, says Boeing Jessica Kowal, the raw material should be grown locally (to minimize transport costs and carbon footprint from them). It should fit into existing supply chains, and not create problems with the land and water used. Tobacco is already grown in South Africa, says Wired. As there are global anti-smoking campaigns, the country will continue to cultivate and minimize the impact of these campaigns on farmers.
The type of plant, called Solaris, and used for the fuel is produced by SkyNRG, a fuel company. This particular one plant it produces large seeds, which contain the vegetable oil from which fuel is made. It contains almost no nicotine.
To use the biofuel from the smoke, South African Airway's fleet will take a few years, as it needs to increase thetreatment. Σύμφωνα με το σχέδιο κατά το 2017, η αεροπορική εταιρεία δεν θα σταματήσει ξαφνικά τη χρήση συμβατικών καυσίμων. Η ιδέα, είναι όπως συμβαίνει με όλα τα βιοκαύσιμα, να αναμιχθεί το product that comes out of smoke with conventional fuels. "This is the only feasible approach," says Kowal, because change must be gradual.