Is Richard Branson's biofuel flight of Virgin Airways just another publicity stunt?

Question

"To replace current U.S. petroleum use alone would require about 75% of all cultivated land on the face of the Earth, with no ethanol available for other countries, or sufficient food and water for humans and animals."

- Pimentel, D.; T.W. Patzek (2005). "Ethanol Production Using Corn, Switchgrass, and Wood; Biodiesel Production Using Soybean and Sunflower".

http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/Pimentel-Tadzek.pdf

Uhhh....oh yeah. The plane did not carry any passengers. DUH.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7259004.stm

Answer 1

I don't think that "Publicity Stunt" is quite and accurate description.  I would think that no passengers was because if the engines had experienced a fuel problem, see where I am headed...

Awareness and proof of the fuel is probably a better way to put it.  Bio-diesel may be a viable way to replace a percentage of our fuels and I believe that the use of the non-food parts of plants to produce this fuel, as well as the use of waste, i.e. over ripe or out of date products will be mare of a way to go that to divert food agriculture to bio-diesel production.  

Still, those who manage the process have a responsibility to make that choice.  With an increasingly populated world to feed, we cannot divert our agricultural pipeline to run our cars and such.  

Reduce, Repair, Reuse, Recycle and Replace wasteful systems with efficient ones.

Answer 2

Branson's test was not a publicity flight, it verified that a B20 fuel was appropriate in the reduced tempetatures of high altitudes.  This achieved bona-fide knowledge.

Pimentel is the publicity stunt and an extremeist, but his point that current production techinques and feedstocks for Biodeisel are less effeicent than they should be is correct, but not as bad as he cites.

  

In 1990, Sheehan's NREL program calculated that just 15,000 square miles of desert (the Sonoran desert in California and Arizona is more than eight times that size) could grow enough algae to replace nearly all of the nation's current diesel requirements.  That is 4% of land in US will supply the entire requirement of diesel.

Pimentel uses gross generalizations, fails to value by-products, and in genral, delivers a report that suits his original hypothesis.  The odd thing is, D. Pimentel does not say much about the toxic, envrionmentally devistating, and rapidly diminishing oil alternative to biofuels - perhaps there is a reason for this!

Answer 3

I had seen all details and the two web sites and as conveyed

and the facts of Virgin Airways being a publicity stunt.

The one party leading with a soft opposition lways become a weekest point.

Answer 4

no

Answer 5

Also, it takes only a small amount of energy to create a gallon of biodiesel.  In a Feb. 17, '08 article in the Times (url below) a local chemistry teacher under a grant from the oil company BP looked at the claims made by the proponents of ethanol and biodiesel.  In the article it states "Creating ethanol takes a lot of corn that could be used for food and takes a lot of energy.  For each unit of energy consumed to produce it, ethanol only returns 1.2 units of energy.

By contrast, biodiesel returns eight units per unit put.  

Emissions from burning it (biodiesel) are 25 percent less than those from petroleum diesel."

The company I work for has implemented the use of biodiesel.  I work for a large integrated steel mill.  I can only imagine how much fuel we burn each day.

Chevrolet is a big proponent of E85.  Take a look at the second url below for a the Chevy Impala.

Ethanol mileage is really lousy.  No difference in pollution.  Does offer a smaller "carbon footprint."

For me I am looking toward the day when more auto manufacturers offer diesel engines.

Answer 6

It was a publicity stunt, but the ethanol info you cite is irrelevant.

Jet engines use Kerosene for fuel, Bio-diesel is an effective alternative to Jet Fuel. The economics (energy, land use etc.) of Bio-diesel production is much more favorable than is Ethanol production for automobiles.

I'd expect that you will see many more Jet's using Bio-Jet Fuel in the future. At $100/bbl oil, Bio-Jet Fuel makes tremendous economic sense. Jet engines use very simple oil burners to operate so It will be fairly easy to qualify biofuels as safe and effective.

Astrobuf