Coconut Airways Recently a commercial airliner took off with one of it’s four fuel tanks containing a 20 percent mixture of coconut and palm oil, the first ever usage of biofuels in the airline industry.
The Virgin Atlantic 747 flight flew from London to Amsterdam and the boss of Virgin Atlantic; Sir Richard Branson hailed it as a breakthrough for the airline industry.
Environmentalists insist that this is just a cynical publicity stunt as food prices are being pushed up in many developing countries by the diversion of staple food crops to the bio fuel industry.
In many areas of the world, unique habitats and forests are being destroyed and converted into palm plantations in order to feed the increasing demand for palm oil
The use of bio fuels needs to be thoroughly examined to see what impact increasing demand will have on the environment and food prices.
Whether a publicity stunt or a major breakthrough, the aviation industry is here to stay and if new technology can help reduce the harmful emissions from aviation then it should be welcomed as long as the environmental impact is negligible.
