* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Friday, July 18, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Theater at Santa Fe’s San Isidro Plaza will be converted into IMAX, family entertainment venue – Santa Fe New Mexican

    Santa Fe’s San Isidro Plaza Theater Transforms into Exciting IMAX Family Entertainment Venue

    B&B Theatres will open massive entertainment complex in Texas – The Business Journals

    B&B Theatres will open massive entertainment complex in Texas – The Business Journals

    Rough times for broadcast networks illustrate changing media landscape – New Haven Register

    Broadcast Networks Confront Turbulent Times in a Rapidly Changing Media Landscape

    Black River Entertainment Adds Traci Hite As Director Of Promotion, Southeast – MusicRow.com

    Black River Entertainment Welcomes Traci Hite as New Director of Southeast Promotion

    Entertainment Business Master’s Grad Launched Nonprofit to Nurture Emerging Artists – Full Sail University

    Entertainment Business Master’s Grad Launched Nonprofit to Nurture Emerging Artists – Full Sail University

    Review: At the Huntington, the New Hollywood String Quartet recalls legendary studio musicians – Los Angeles Times

    Review: At the Huntington, the New Hollywood String Quartet recalls legendary studio musicians – Los Angeles Times

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    A major AI training data set contains millions of examples of personal data – MIT Technology Review

    A major AI training data set contains millions of examples of personal data – MIT Technology Review

    Simpson College to purchase medical simulation technology with grant funds – Iowa Capital Dispatch

    Simpson College to purchase medical simulation technology with grant funds – Iowa Capital Dispatch

    SailGP Technologies officially launches new center of excellence in technology & innovation – Sail-World.com

    SailGP Technologies officially launches new center of excellence in technology & innovation – Sail-World.com

    Victorville’s new gunfire-detecting technology already making strides, city says – NBC Los Angeles

    Victorville’s New Gunfire-Detecting Technology Is Already Making a Difference, City Officials Say

    Guest columnist: China cutting corners on technology – The State Journal

    China’s Rapid Tech Advances Spark Worries About Cutting Corners

    Sentrycs’ Cyber Over RF technology integrated into Rafael’s combat-proven Drone Dome system – Defence Industry Europe

    Sentrycs’ Cyber Over RF Technology Boosts Rafael’s Battle-Tested Drone Dome System

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Theater at Santa Fe’s San Isidro Plaza will be converted into IMAX, family entertainment venue – Santa Fe New Mexican

    Santa Fe’s San Isidro Plaza Theater Transforms into Exciting IMAX Family Entertainment Venue

    B&B Theatres will open massive entertainment complex in Texas – The Business Journals

    B&B Theatres will open massive entertainment complex in Texas – The Business Journals

    Rough times for broadcast networks illustrate changing media landscape – New Haven Register

    Broadcast Networks Confront Turbulent Times in a Rapidly Changing Media Landscape

    Black River Entertainment Adds Traci Hite As Director Of Promotion, Southeast – MusicRow.com

    Black River Entertainment Welcomes Traci Hite as New Director of Southeast Promotion

    Entertainment Business Master’s Grad Launched Nonprofit to Nurture Emerging Artists – Full Sail University

    Entertainment Business Master’s Grad Launched Nonprofit to Nurture Emerging Artists – Full Sail University

    Review: At the Huntington, the New Hollywood String Quartet recalls legendary studio musicians – Los Angeles Times

    Review: At the Huntington, the New Hollywood String Quartet recalls legendary studio musicians – Los Angeles Times

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    A major AI training data set contains millions of examples of personal data – MIT Technology Review

    A major AI training data set contains millions of examples of personal data – MIT Technology Review

    Simpson College to purchase medical simulation technology with grant funds – Iowa Capital Dispatch

    Simpson College to purchase medical simulation technology with grant funds – Iowa Capital Dispatch

    SailGP Technologies officially launches new center of excellence in technology & innovation – Sail-World.com

    SailGP Technologies officially launches new center of excellence in technology & innovation – Sail-World.com

    Victorville’s new gunfire-detecting technology already making strides, city says – NBC Los Angeles

    Victorville’s New Gunfire-Detecting Technology Is Already Making a Difference, City Officials Say

    Guest columnist: China cutting corners on technology – The State Journal

    China’s Rapid Tech Advances Spark Worries About Cutting Corners

    Sentrycs’ Cyber Over RF technology integrated into Rafael’s combat-proven Drone Dome system – Defence Industry Europe

    Sentrycs’ Cyber Over RF Technology Boosts Rafael’s Battle-Tested Drone Dome System

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

Cooking oil just fueled a transatlantic flight. But is it a solution or a distraction?

December 9, 2023
in Science
Cooking oil just fueled a transatlantic flight. But is it a solution or a distraction?
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Environment

Virgin’s Flight100 is the first commercial flight to make a transatlantic journey on 100 percent Sustainable Aviation Fuel, but the progress it represents depends on what type of expert you ask.

ByMelissa Hobson

Published December 8, 2023

• 6 min read

The first commercial transatlantic flight using 100 percent Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), made from used cooking oil, recently flew from London’s Heathrow airport to New York’s JFK airport—a project called Flight100. But while some hope this could be a step forward for sustainability, many have criticized Flight100’s green claims.

Globally, aviation made up around 2.5 percent of the world’s carbon emissions in 2022, and in the next 20 years, reports suggest those emissions will triple as more people and goods fly around the world.

Flights powered by electricity and hydrogen have traditionally been seen as more sustainable forms of air travel, but the nascent technology is still decades away from being used. Virgin, which operated the flight, claimed in a press release that SAF is currently the only viable way to sustainably power long-haul flights.

But is this flight really an environmental milestone or a distraction from better alternatives?

What exactly is Sustainable Aviation Fuel?

Definitions for SAF vary, but the term generally refers to a type of aviation fuel that’s not produced by fossil fuels and has a smaller carbon footprint over its lifecycle as a result.

How SAF is produced can influence just how sustainable it is, but studies show some forms of SAF can reduce the emissions of a fossil-fuelled powered jet by more than 90 percent.

“In other words, it still has some CO2 emitted,” says Mohamed Pourkashanian, head of University Energy Research at University of Sheffield, who was involved in Flight100.

Flight100 was powered mainly by used cooking oil, currently the only SAF being produced at a commercial scale. This type of fuel is made from vegetable oils and animal fats—rather than fossil fuels—but powers an engine similarly to conventional oil, says Joshua Heyne, director of Washington State University’s Bioproducts, Sciences, and Engineering Lab. The oil is collected from a variety of sources, including McDonald’s restaurants.

Current regulations from ASTM International—a global standards organization—allow commercial aircraft to use up to 50 percent SAF mixed with traditional jet fuel, but Flight100 received a permit to use 100 percent SAF. Regulators reviewed technical elements ahead of the journey, and the flight itself proved long-haul planes can fly safely using 100 percent SAF.

“Governments, policymakers, and aviation stakeholders can no longer say we’re a long way away from the technology. The technology is there,” he says. But it will still be years before these flights are rolled out across commercial fleets because of the amount of fuel needed. Currently, SAF makes up less than one percent of the global jet fuel supply.

The unsustainable side of sustainable flights

Environmentalists, however, have called Flight100 a greenwashing exercise.

One criticism of SAF is that the land used to grow the crops used for fuel should be used to produce food crops instead. Developing more land for biofuels like SAF could result in the loss of important carbon stores, such as forests and peatlands, or habitats for endangered wildlife.

“Any crop grown for fuel competes with foodstuffs and pushes the agricultural frontier further into forests and peatlands, with large releases of carbon,” writes Gareth Dale, a political economist at Brunel University in London, and Josh Moos, a political scientist at Leeds Beckett University for The Conversation.

While new SAFs repurpose used cooking oil that might otherwise go to waste, Dale and Moos argue that even massive collection efforts would be insufficient for the large volume of jet fuel needed to power the thousands of flights taking off every day.

When it comes to used cooking oil, Heyne acknowledges that “there’s only so much of that type of oil in the world, and there’s even less of it that can be sourced sustainably,” but highlights that SAF can be made from other types of waste such as alcohol, municipal solid waste, and sewage sludge.

“Everything you flush down the toilet or throw away in the trash, if there’s carbon in it, it can be turned into SAF,” he says.

SAF is currently more expensive than conventional aviation fuel—around “$2 per unit rather than $0.6 dollars per unit”—but prices are likely to change, says Pourkashanian.

Large-scale production could make it cheaper, says Heyne, in the same way it has for wind and solar.

Supporters of SAF are excited because this so-called drop-in fuel—which can directly replace traditional jet fuel—is compatible with existing technology.

“Airlines don’t have to change their operations. They don’t have to buy new aircraft,” says Heyne.

The long-term future of sustainable air travel

Competing low carbon aviation technologies—namely, hydrogen and electric—are also in development, but both will take decades and would require new industry-wide infrastructure.

“A lot of airports really don’t have the space to add a whole new fuelling system to their infrastructure,” says Heyne.

­And powering planes with electricity and hydrogen isn’t without its downsides. The batteries used to store massive amounts of electricity require extensive mining, and hydrogen’s environmental benefit varies widely based on how it’s produced.

“So, we can’t simply say if we switch over to hydrogen everything will be fine, that isn’t the case,” says Pourkashanian.

The race for a solution is urgent. “We have very little time to figure this all out and do it at scale,” says Heyne.

Environmental experts say one sure-fire way to reduce aviation emissions is to reduce how much we fly.

Measures to reduce flights are being taken in some parts of the world. In France, domestic flights are banned if the same journey can be completed by train in under two and a half hours.

Improving rail networks and other public transport is key to encouraging people to choose lower carbon forms of transport over short distances. One study suggests that replacing rail journeys with short-haul flights across 87 German routes could reduce carbon emissions by 2.7–22 percent.

But for now, flying remains an increasingly popular form of travel. This year, TSA screened more than 2.9 million people on November 26, a day the agency said was the “busiest day for air travel ever.”

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : National Geographic – https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/sustainable-jet-fuel-aviation-transatlantic-flight

Tags: Cookingfueledscience
Previous Post

Salmonella can be deadly. Here’s how to protect yourself from it.

Next Post

Joel Filliol on high-performance triathlon, coach-athlete relationships and dealing with change

A major AI training data set contains millions of examples of personal data – MIT Technology Review

A major AI training data set contains millions of examples of personal data – MIT Technology Review

July 18, 2025
Dave Portnoy unites FOX Sports and Barstool with new football, basketball coverage deal – Fox News

Dave Portnoy unites FOX Sports and Barstool with new football, basketball coverage deal – Fox News

July 18, 2025
To see and not be seen: Carangids hide behind sharks to prey on fish – Cattano – 2025 – Ecology – ESA Journals

Mastering the Art of Stealth: How Carangids Turn Sharks into Living Shields to Outsmart Their Prey

July 18, 2025
Science labs move ‘a hammer blow’, says MP – Yahoo

Science labs move ‘a hammer blow’, says MP – Yahoo

July 18, 2025
American science to soon face its largest brain drain in history – Big Think

America’s Science Community Confronts Its Biggest Brain Drain in History

July 18, 2025
Longhorns Daily News: Austin’s fast-paced lifestyle helped inspire former Texas WR Brenen Thompson to transfer to new school – Burnt Orange Nation

Longhorns Daily News: Austin’s fast-paced lifestyle helped inspire former Texas WR Brenen Thompson to transfer to new school – Burnt Orange Nation

July 18, 2025
China’s path to world dominance is being laid by President Trump’s policies, including in Alaska – Alaska Beacon

China’s path to world dominance is being laid by President Trump’s policies, including in Alaska – Alaska Beacon

July 18, 2025
Wall Street’s Big 7 Are Now Bigger Than China’s Entire Economy – MSN

Wall Street’s 7 Biggest Titans Now Outpace the Entire Chinese Economy

July 18, 2025
Bad Bunny, Travis Scott, Saweetie, and All the Songs You Need to Know This Week – Yahoo

Bad Bunny, Travis Scott, Saweetie, and This Week’s Must-Listen Hits

July 18, 2025
‘I just couldn’t stop crying’: How prison affects Black men’s mental health long after they’ve been released – The Conversation

I Just Couldn’t Stop Crying’: The Deep and Lasting Impact of Prison on Black Men’s Mental Health

July 18, 2025

Categories

Archives

July 2025
MTWTFSS
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031 
« Jun    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (727)
  • Economy (750)
  • Entertainment (21,635)
  • General (15,970)
  • Health (9,788)
  • Lifestyle (758)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (752)
  • Politics (760)
  • Science (15,967)
  • Sports (21,248)
  • Technology (15,733)
  • World (734)

Recent News

A major AI training data set contains millions of examples of personal data – MIT Technology Review

A major AI training data set contains millions of examples of personal data – MIT Technology Review

July 18, 2025
Dave Portnoy unites FOX Sports and Barstool with new football, basketball coverage deal – Fox News

Dave Portnoy unites FOX Sports and Barstool with new football, basketball coverage deal – Fox News

July 18, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version