KLM tests first passenger flight fueled with renewables

Reuters video reports on the first passenger airplane flight using renewable fuels.

KLM Dutch Airlines flight which circled the skies over The Netherlands used a 50/50 mix of biofuel and traditional fuel. Although it carried passengers it was still a test flight.

Watch the report below:

Cars to run on used clothing?

Reuters video reports on bio-fuel made from old clothing.

Swedish engineers have created a chemical process that breaks down cotton and synthetic fabrics into bio-fuel (ethanol and methane) which could fuel vehicles.

The scientists claim that this process uses less energy than extracting from plant sources and "50 percent more ethanol is produced."

Watch the report below:

Biofuels reduce CO2 emissions but not plane performance says Boeing

McClatchy Newspapers reports that according to a Boeing official, biofuels used in airplanes reduce greenhouse gas emissions and also don't affect plane performance.

Initial flight tests have found that jet fuel made partly of camelina, algae or other bio-feed stocks can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes by more than 50 percent, doesn't affect performance and presents no technical or safety problems, a top Boeing official said Thursday.

"It meets all jet fuel requirements and then some," said Billy Glover, who heads Boeing's environmental strategy group.

Glover said a full report on the test flights would be released next month and aviation biofuel could be approved for use as early as next year. Despite its promise, however, Glover said the real problem is how quickly growers can start producing and refiners processing enough biofuel to make it an alternative to the Jet A fuel used today.

Read the full story: Aviation biofuel proves itself in tests, but is there enough?

Continental latest airline to test biofuel

CNN reports on Continental Airlines foray into the biofuel testing arena.

Continental is the first national airline to test a mix of algae and jatropha oils in a 50-50 mix with traditional jet fuel.

The test, performed yesterday out of Houston, compared a biofuel plane with one running on all jet fuel.

The Boeing 737 burned less fuel in the biofuel-powered engine than a conventionally powered engine, and the two performed identically during the one-hour, 40-minute flight, Boeing spokesman Terrance Scott said.

We reported last September on Boeing, Virgin, and eight other airlines' commitment to working on biofuel development in the commercial airline industry.

International carriers Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand tested their own biofuel mixes last year.

Read the full story: Biofuels take to the skies in airline tests

Air New Zealand tests biofuels

Happy New Year and welcome back from Ecotravel News. We hope the holidays were a nice relaxing and refreshing time for everyone and we now can start 2009 anew.

As you can see Ecotravel News has a new look and hope you like it.

The holidays are always a great time for travel and that makes Ecotravel News happy about new innovations and greener ways to get around and see the world.

For the first post of 2009, Reuters is following up on the Air New Zealand story we ran last month about using biofuels in their flights. Watch their video report below:

Kiwi airline unveiling green inside

Environmental News Network reports on the biofuel test by Air New Zealand next month.

On December 3, the Kiwi airline will test a 50/50 mixture of regular jet fuel and biofuel made from the jatropha plant.

"Air New Zealand told Reuters in June it hoped to use one million barrels of biofuel a year, about 10 percent of its fuel consumption, in its jet fleet by 2013."

Read the full story: Air New Zealand to test biofuel next month

Airlines group to use biofuel in commercial flights

Environmental News Network reports that aviation industry leaders Boeing and Virgin will join eight other airlines to "speed up the development of sustainable, second-generation biofuels for use in the commercial aviation industry."

"Billy Glover, managing director of environmental strategy for Boeing, said the effort will allow airlines to take control of their future fuel supply while curbing the industry's impact on the environment. 'The number one priority going forward is to complete thorough assessments of sustainable plant sources, harvesting and economic impacts, and processing technologies that can help achieve that goal,' he said in a statement."

Read the full story: Boeing, Virgin join group committed to biofuel for commercial jets

CNN.com's biofuel road trip

Two fellows from CNN.com did an experimental road trip this summer in a truck outfitted for biodiesel consumption.

Cody McCloy and Brian Hardy drove from San Francisco to Atlanta in their newly purchased - yet old school - biodiesel vehicle (pictured right).

They mapped out biodiesel refilling stations ahead of time, but sometimes these stations wouldn't be open, so sometimes they needed to use regular diesel.

All in all they drove 4,189 miles, used 81.39 gallons of biodiesel, and 74.67 gallons of regular diesel.

Read the full story: My biofuel road trip: Hot as hell, eco-friendly

Biofuels push out peasants

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) published a report for their food summit that condemns biofuels for not only adding to the global food crisis, but also for pushing out low-income peasant farmers from their land, says Reuters:

"'Specific social groups such as pastoralists, shifting cultivators and women are especially liable to suffer exclusion from land caused by rising land values, while people who are already landless are likely to see the barriers to land access increase further,' [the report] said."

Read the full story: Biofuel land demand puts peasants at risk: report

Used oil = carbon-neutral Scottish bus

A Scottish bus company encouraged enough riders to donate their used cooking oil for biofuel production, that they can now go carbon-neutral, reports Environmental News Network:

"For the past six months, Stagecoach has been running eight buses on biofuels made from used cooking oil. That project has the makings of a true bartering scheme; in exchange for used cooking oil, passengers get a reduction on travel fares. The scheme is organized at Ayrshire Council recycling plant and has been met with tremendous enthusiasm of the population. Over 21 tonnes of used cooking oil was handed, marking an 100 percent increase over a period of six months."

Read the full story: Hand over your cooking oils

Rise in cooking oil thefts

RVtravel.com reports that thefts of used fast-food frying oil is on the rise - due to higher gas prices:

"Now, as the price of gas and diesel has climbed, so has the appeal of stealing vegetable oil to brew homemade fuel in backyard stills. Fast food restaurants across the USA have reported such thefts — the bandits using the recycled oils to power their personal vehicles."

Read the full story: Crooks stealing veggie oil for home-brew biofuel

SF Chronicle ponders green travel

The San Francisco Chronicle tries to answer the question of how to determine the "greenest" form of travel for your specific needs.

They compared and contrasted car, airline and train travel with various carbon footprint scenarios for all.

They determined that: "It's either cut back on carbon emissions in applications where it's relatively easy or decide that our only truly green alternative is to stay home."

Read the full story: No easy answer to "greener" travel mode

W Hotels to offer free bikes on Earth Day

The New York Times reports that the luxury W hotel chain will begin offering green transportation alternatives starting this Earth Day.

Guests will be provided with free bikes and helmets. There is a "Spring Fling" package that will donate 100 trees to a charity org. And W will offer a green limo service using hybrids or alternative-fuel vehicles.

Because it's a luxury chain, the green limo service will probably be the greenest thing the guests will be able to sacrifice their lifestyles for. Somehow I don't see these guests using bikes to get to and fro. And who knows how long these so-called green services will last...

Read the full story: W celebrates Earth Day

The greening of national museums

The Christian Science Monitor reports on a growing trend of museums turning "green."

Correspondent Yvonne Zipp writes that Michigan's Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) is the very first to get the Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and En­­viron­­mental Design) certification.

Others such as Denver's Museum of Contemporary Art will also join GRAM with a Gold status.

Pittsburgh's Phipps Conservatory is so environmentally friendly that it has even banned bottled water.

"The director of the Phipps, Richard Piacentini, can describe every step the conservatory has taken to become more environmentally sustainable.

This fall, the conservatory will break ground on a greenhouse that Piacentini and his team hope will become the first Living Building in the United States – one that is completely self-sustaining and relies exclusively on renewable energy.

Organic waste will power the fuel cell that supplies the building with electricity, and a combination of constructed wetlands and a 'living machine' (with anaerobic bacteria) will treat the sewage for the entire complex."

Read the full story: Museums sprout 'green' architecture

Greediness hidden behind electric vehicles

Wired Magazine's latest issue confronts the rather sticky subject of exposing electric vehicle maker ZAP as charlatans.

We at Ecotravel News are all for emissions-free or emissions-cutting vehicles but were stunned at the greedy antics of the heads of this so-called eco-car company.

According to Wired, ZAP promised to manufacture many different models of electric vehicles (EVs) and urged individuals to open their own dealerships after paying ZAP an investment fee. ZAP only delivered two of the promised cars (one pictured above) and those had defects that ZAP refused to fix according to their warranties. The dealership owners, some who had put their entire savings into the promise of selling these environmentally-friendly cars, were crushed financially.

ZAP also issued phony partnership press releases to create creditability and buzz to up their stock price. The two heads issued themselves thousands of stock options and would issue more stock options to investors.

ZAP has yet to get more promised vehicles than the already defective two EVs on the road, but always manages to say they will be delivering new models soon. Meanwhile new people are constantly brought in to help the company, only to leave just as quickly, after realizing the greed of the company is the real goal hidden behind the rouse of environmental cars.

Read the full story: Hype Machine: Searching for ZAP's fleet of no-show green cars

Contest for most fuel-efficient car

At the New York International Auto Show this week, there are several fuel-efficient car models that are competing for a $10 million prize. The contest is the Progressive Automotive X Prize for the first vehicle to get 100 miles-per-gallon, but so far no major car makers are entering. The Christian Science Monitor sent reporter Ron Scherer to check out these earth-friendly cars:

"We need a car that is not just a concept but can be made in mass quantities at a reasonable cost for the average American," says Jack Hidary, chairman of the Coalition Advocating for Smart Transportation and a donor to the X Prize's new effort. "Unfortunately, Detroit has not stepped up to the plate, they have fought CAFE [Corporate Average Fuel Economy] standards every step of the way."

Read the full story: $10 million quest for a practical 100-mpg car

CSM is also venturing into video reporting, accompanying this article is a video report produced by print journalists... meaning, they tried but it's no CNN...

The choice of flex-fuel cars

Flex-fuel cars (like Sir Richard Branson's SAAB at right) are not usually an option for anyone buying a new car in the U.S. American Public Media's Marketplace Morning Report had an interesting commentary this morning by Gal Luft, a global security expert, who questions why we are not given the choice of flex-fuel cars especially since gas prices are so high. He even notes that in Brazil and China, consumers are given this choice.

Listen to the full story: Pay more attention to flex-fuel cars

Virgin flies first flight with biofuels

Ecotravel news is pleased to see that The Wall Street Journal online edition is now free to the public. So although a few weeks late, The Middle Seat column reported last month on Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Airlines' first flight using biofuels. Although they only used a mixture of 20 percent biofuels to 80 percent regular jet fuel, it's still better than 100 percent jet fuel:

"Airlines are under mounting pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming, even though aviation's pollutants amount to less than 3% of all emissions. Jets are visible signs of environmental damage, and scientists have concerns that pollutants dropped directly into high altitudes may be more dangerous than those released on the ground."

Sir Branson also made a show of actually tasting the biofuel concoction of coconut and Brazilian nut oils.

Read the full story: Virgin puts biofuels on maiden voyage

Biofuel discharge is bad for environment

The New York Times reports on oily and polluting discharges in an Alabama river that were ultimately traced back to biofuel production. Although considered "natural" and "non-toxic," the glycerin and vegetable oil byproducts that leaked into the Alabama water sources choked off oxygen supplies to native species:

"Bruce P. Hollebone, a researcher with Environment Canada in Ottawa and one of the world’s leading experts on the environmental impact of vegetable oil and glycerin spills said 'but as with most organic materials, oil and glycerin deplete the oxygen content of water very quickly, and that will suffocate fish and other organisms. And for birds, a vegetable oil spill is just as deadly as a crude oil spill.'"

Read the full story: Pollution is called a byproduct of a 'clean' fuel

Negative aftereffects of biofuel production?

Biofuels should be a solution to oil-based fuel. On paper it sounds good because its made from plants like corn or soybeans and should therefore be much better for the environment. But there are some negatives. The Energy Bill that recently passed calls for a certain amount of biofuels and production to be mandatory. However, land that is cleared for agriculture is land that is changed from a natural habitat. Agriculture requires chemical pesticides and irrigation which are also harmful to the environment. The Christian Science Monitor also points out that the demand for biofuels could directly raise global food prices.

'"More people are coming to the conclusion that there is a food-fuel link," says Siwa Msangi of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), a Washington food-security research organization. Bruce Babcock, an economist at Iowa State University's Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute says biofuels play a role in higher grain prices.

His findings are bolstered by a study last month in which Mr. Msangi's IFPRI estimated that future biofuel expansion could increase international corn prices between 26 and 72 percent by 2020, depending on how aggressive the expansion turns out to be.'

Read the full story: As global food costs rise, are biofuels to blame?