Think Green Live Clean

Photo Credit: Steve Jurvetson

Everyone knows that air travel isn’t exactly environmentally friendly, but researchers and airlines think they may have a solution: air travel powered by seas of algae. Seriously. Airline big wigs like Airbus and British Airways are among those supporting a project at Cranfield University in the U.K. to research ways of harvesting algae for jet fuel in commercial quantities.

Although some 1,500 delegates from governments and the aviation industry recently met up in Montreal for the International Civil Aviation Organization and pledged to improve fuel efficiency up until 2050, many believe the organization isn’t working quickly enough.

Steven Tebbe, a consultant advising the industry on becoming greener, says that the aviation industry as a whole is growing by 4 to 5 percent per year and the best airlines are improving their fuel efficiency by around 1.5 percent per year. Tebbe cites measures like alternative low carbon fuels and economic incentives as possible measures to up air travel’s green credentials, but researchers at Cranfield say algae are better than bio fuels because they don’t compete with land for food production.

Cranfield University Professor Feargal Brennan thinks that algae could possibly be produced commercially in four years time. “A great advantage of algae is you can harvest it every seven to 12 days, so you get 30 to 50 harvests a year, compared with one a year of conventional crops,” Brennan says.

But what about the environmental cost of distributing fuel to airports around the world? The researchers are looking into whether algae could be grown close to airports. Despite his belief in the potential of algae, Brennan says, “The solution to aviation fuel is likely to come from a variety of sources and this is only one of them. If there’s one lesson in all forms of renewable energy, it’s that there’s no silver bullet. The key to sustainability is not putting all your eggs in one basket.”

Read more about air travel powered by algae and other measures the industry is taking for the environment here.