Flying High on Advanced Biofuels!
by Mike McAdams (Advanced Biofuels Association/Biorefining Magazine) As I write to you, I am witnessing history at 40,000 feet above the U.S., a rare privilege, as one of the first commercial passengers on board the Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to Washington, D.C. It is the first cross-country flight and one of two commercial flights in the U.S. to utilize renewable jet fuels.
…I have to wonder if all this would even be possible if lawmakers in Washington had not helped in expediting the deployment of the innovative technologies powering this Boeing 737-800. I think we all know the answer.
…Some in Congress would like to withdraw all federal dollars invested in clean energy. They have latched upon the failed loan guarantee of a California solar company as the justification to end all efforts in this area. But let’s put this into context, as Congressman Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., said to me recently, we spend more each day in Iraq than the loss incurred by the solar company loan.
…Following the invention of the airplane by the Wright brothers, England began to perfect the manufacture of airplanes for the purpose of national defense. America followed that lead by building airplanes for defense purposes, and the U.S. Postal Service entered the market for aircraft to fly postage back and forth across the country. This created a viable demand for the planes and led to the financing of scalable, affordable aircraft.
I concluded that the same needs to happen with advanced renewable fuels. READ MORE
