The Virgin Atlantic jumbo jet that flew from London to Amsterdam on Saturday carried more than businessmen and pleasure-seeking vacationers. It also carried an entire tank full of a biofuel blend. The blend was comprised of 20% alternative oil from sources like babassu and coconut oil and 80% conventional fuel. Richard Branson, Virgin’s founder and CEO said that it was possible to fly on a blend with 40% alternative oil.
Branson worries about using oil from food source crops such as corn and sugar cane and believes that the future of biofuel lies in sewage and waste sources. One issue not raised was the sourcing of the babassu oil, which comes from an Amazonian nut. Many fear that products harvested from endangered ecosystems may do more harm than good. Which is more important: preventing deforestation or using cleaner energy? Hopefully, Branson’s support of sewage algae fuel will help shift the focus away from Amazonian products as well as food crops.
