BA flies carbon-neutral flight

[Mark]

British Airways flies carbon-neutral flight powered by recycled cooking oil:
https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/bri ... ooking-oil

OK, still far from the advertised "Perfect Flight", but at least the aviation industry is now looking at ways to decarbonise....
Lighter seats and catering trollies sound like good ideas too....

[Potemkin Villager]

I think you might mean that the industry is looking at more means
to make it look as if they are substantially decarbonising. Perhaps they
will next suggest reducing embodied energy by switching from aluminum to wood
as a material in aircraft construction.

[PS_RalphW]

As I suspected it was not remotely carbon neutral. It was a 35 - 65 blend of processed recycled vegetable oil and aviation fuel. The processing of the vegetable oil had a carbon footprint of 20% of the finished product, so the actual flight was 35 * 0.8 = 28% carbon neutral. Better than nothing but not nearly enough

[adam2]

Greenwash.
Only limited volumes of waste cooking oil are available, and then only in affluent nations. The supply is likely to reduce and not to increase.

I would prefer that such light green fuel be used for essential purposes such as emergency vehicles, life saving flights, and railway freight.

Air transport should be discouraged by taxing aviation fuel to the same degree as road fuel, and by not giving any form of grant or subsidy to airlines, airports, aircraft manufacturers and the like.

[kenneal - lagger]

Greenwash.

I agree with the Greenwash tag.

Only limited volumes of waste cooking oil are available, and then only in affluent nations. The supply is likely to reduce and not to increase.

I would prefer that such light green fuel be used for essential purposes such as emergency vehicles, life saving flights, and railway freight.

I agree again.

Air transport should be discouraged by taxing aviation fuel to the same degree as road fuel, and by not giving any form of grant or subsidy to airlines, airports, aircraft manufacturers and the like.

The problem there is that the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944 prohibits the taxing of airline fuel worldwide. Sounds ridiculous but true. This clause was insisted upon at the time by the US. Surprise! surprise!

Rolls Royce had better get into renewable generating turbines quickly then instead of aircraft engines.

[Mark]

The problem there is that the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944 prohibits the taxing of airline fuel worldwide. Sounds ridiculous but true.

Taxing aviation fuel in Europe:
https://www.transportenvironment.org/wp ... tra_EU.pdf

Taxation has been permitted on European domestic flights and intra-EU since 2003, subject to bilateral agreements.
NL is the only EU country so far to raise tax on domestic flights...., although Norway and the Swiss do it too (all very small countries)
Not sure the impact of Brexit....?