Airline claims first with flight by natural gas
by fuel made from natural gas for the first time, in what could be an important
step in the industry’s attempts to lower dependence on oil-based fuel.
Gatwick airport to Doha beforehand and offered them a free alternative flight
in case nerves outweighed a desire to be part of history.
kerosene used on the flight, said the fuel offered airlines the chance to become less reliant on oil-based
fuel.
air quality, neither Shell nor other members of the consortium developing it claim
it is better at reducing carbon emissions, saying only that "there may be some
modest CO2 emissions benefits". Jeff Gazzard , board member of the Aviation Environment Federation group, said: "GTL is useful for local airport air quality but has a higher carbon
footprint than ordinary fuel."
heels on climate change. The industry unveiled an agreement last month to cut
emissions to 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2050.
oil to algae. At least five test flights using either biofuels or GTL have been
carried out over the past two years, including a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400
trip in February last year on which one engine operated on a 20 per cent biofuel
mix of babassu oil and coconut oil.
an ordinary scheduled flight with paying passengers.
flight was the first using natural gas-to-liquid, which is considered more environmentally
beneficial.
on military flights but the Qatar flight was the first time the authority had
heard of it being used on a commercial flight with passengers.
for aircraft since the 1930s because of the need to ensure passenger safety.
believe Qatar has quite a lot of natural gas (3rd largest reserves in
the world) ie. may be making an early bid to sell lots of GTL as the
price of conventional aviation fuel rises. By getting it allowed for use
early they avoid any lag in its deployment.
Perhaps Shell and Qatar are doing some deal based on this as I am not
sure natural gas falls under the cartel controls of OPEC yet.