Tobacco May Have A Future Powering Planes
- 10 years ago
Forward thinkers in the airline industry are on the hunt for fossil fuel alternatives, and it turns out that tobacco is emerging as a pretty good candidate.
Fuel accounts for a third of airlines’ expenses, and some top execs have had enough.
Forward thinkers in the industry are on the hunt for fossil fuel alternatives, and it turns out that tobacco is emerging as a pretty good candidate.
Boeing and South African Airways have joined forces with a Dutch biofuel company and together they’re trying to develop a more cost-efficient way to get planes in the air.
Thus far, the type of tobacco leading the pack is a custom made variety known as Solaris.
Cultivation tests are being conducted in South Africa and the hybrid is already proving to be quite promising.
Among the things it has going for it is that its seeds have a particularly high oil content which is helpful in the making of the alternative fuel.
How long it will take before the experiments become an actual viable product is unknown, but it isn’t believed that it will be soon.
Nonetheless, anticipated non-airplane related benefits of the program are already being touted.
It’s said that the initiative will give South Africa’s tobacco farming industry the option to produce product that doesn’t escalate health risks among their countrymen.
Fuel accounts for a third of airlines’ expenses, and some top execs have had enough.
Forward thinkers in the industry are on the hunt for fossil fuel alternatives, and it turns out that tobacco is emerging as a pretty good candidate.
Boeing and South African Airways have joined forces with a Dutch biofuel company and together they’re trying to develop a more cost-efficient way to get planes in the air.
Thus far, the type of tobacco leading the pack is a custom made variety known as Solaris.
Cultivation tests are being conducted in South Africa and the hybrid is already proving to be quite promising.
Among the things it has going for it is that its seeds have a particularly high oil content which is helpful in the making of the alternative fuel.
How long it will take before the experiments become an actual viable product is unknown, but it isn’t believed that it will be soon.
Nonetheless, anticipated non-airplane related benefits of the program are already being touted.
It’s said that the initiative will give South Africa’s tobacco farming industry the option to produce product that doesn’t escalate health risks among their countrymen.