Bright Green Jet Fuel?

One of the star attractions at the Farnborough Airshow was a 75 gallon tank of green algae at the Boeing exhibit. This algae has been described as a breeding ground for a jet fuel substitute, and helping Boeing get on board with the world-wide craze over "green", or in other words being "environmentally friendly". One cool thing about this algae – it doubles itself every 24 hours. When the Boeing staffers were asked if the tank really had "green algae" they looked pained and said they sure wouldn’t use green dye.

With the price of jet fuel climbing faster than an F-22 Raptor everyone is looking for a solution, and the smart marketers are getting on board touting their aircraft as being either "greener" or more "environmentally friendly" by providing more fuel efficient aircraft.

Bombardier has climbed aboard this horse with the introduction of its new "C" series of wide body aircraft. Bombardier claims its aircraft will provide the same level of service available today while being 20% more efficient in fuel consumption.

Even the humongous Airbus A380 claims to provide a "better environment inside and out." What a joke! This thing is huge and carries so many passengers I can not imagine that it can possibly be fuel efficient or "green" in any sense of the word.

But Al Gore says we should be able to live without fossil fuels within 10 years – I wonder what will power this behemoth? Ethanol won’t work – freezes at altitude.

Pratt & Whitney introduced a new gear driven turbofan that many experts believe is the wave of the future. Aircraft manufacturers are moving away from metals to plastics (ah, more use of oil) and composites made out of carbon fibers.

All in all we are moving into the "Wild Green Yonder" – get ready for the future.