It's bad enough for some prop planes to be referred to as being powered by rubber bands. Now the cynics might begin having a dig at commercial aircraft flying on everything from cooking oil to melted algae.

With the civil aviation industry under increasing pressure from increasing oil prices and environmental legislation, the race is on to discover viable alternatives to traditional kerosene and these so far appear to boil down to various kinds of biofuel.

Not remarkably, the first trials of alternative fuel were started by British aviation pioneer, Sir Richard Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic started London to Amsterdam flights with limited biofuel use in 2008. This was quickly followed by Lufthansa and Air New Zealand who each used various blends of routine fuel and bio derivatives including some from made from jatropha curcas which can grow in soil thought about too poor for growing mainstream foodstuffs.

jatropha curcas is a genus of approximately 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the household Euphorbiaceae.

In 2007 Goldman Sachs pointed out Jatropha curcas as one of the best prospects for future biodiesel production. It is resistant to dry spell and insects, and produces seeds containing 27-40% oil.

Recently, US aerospace giant Boeing, Brazilian aeronautical significant Embraer and the Sao Paulo state Research Support Foundation moved to bring out research study and advancement into using biofuels to power jet airliners. It was reported that Brazilian airline companies Azul, Gol, TAM and Trip would serve as tactical consultants for the task.

The newest airline to start try out new fuels is the Alaska Air Group which has actually carried out internal US flights utilizing a mix of 80 % petroleum based fuel and 20% biofuel made from . This mix, it is declared, can cut harmful emissions by 10%.

One actually motivating advancement has actually been the move away from biofuels which complete head on with food customers thereby avoiding a cost spiral. Not so long ago, a rise in usage of biofuels in cars caused a spike in maize costs as US farmers diverted too much corn to fuel processing.

Hopefully in the future, airlines and vehicle drivers will focus biofuel consumption on non-food sources such as jatropha and algae. It would be a combined blessing certainly if some people wound up starving simply to please another person's green qualifications.