- LawConnect wins punishing and deadly Sydney-Hobart yacht race
- Ronaldo slams 'unfair' Ballon d'Or result after Vinicius snub
- Several wounded N.Korean soldiers died after being captured by Ukraine: Zelensky
- Fresh strike hits Yemen's rebel-held capital
- Netflix with Beyonce make splash despite NFL ratings fall
- Bird flu mutated inside US patient, raising concern
- Slovakia says ready to host Russia-Ukraine peace talks
- Maresca challenges Chelsea to react to Fulham blow
- Tech slump slays Santa rally, weak yen lifts Japan stocks higher
- Test records for Zimbabwe and Williams as Afghanistan toil
- LawConnect wins punishing Sydney-Hobart yacht race
- Barca's Yamal vows to 'come back better' after ankle injury
- Olmo closer to Barcelona exit after registration request rejected
- Watching the sun rise over a new Damascus
- Malaysia man flogged in mosque for crime of gender mixing
- Montenegro to extradite crypto entrepreneur Do Kwon to US
- Brazil views labor violations at BYD site as human 'trafficking'
- No extra pressure for Slot as Premier League leaders Liverpool pull clear
- Tourists return to post-Olympic Paris for holiday magic
- 'Football harder than Prime Minister' comment was joke, says Postecoglou
- Driver who killed 35 in China car ramming sentenced to death
- Bosch gives South Africa 90-run lead against Pakistan
- French skier Sarrazin 'conscious' after training crash
- NATO to boost military presence in Baltic after cables 'sabotage'
- Howe hopes Newcastle have 'moved on' in last two seasons
- German president dissolves parliament, sets Feb 23 election date
- Slot says 'too early' for Liverpool title talk
- Mayotte faces environment, biodiversity crisis after cyclone
- Amorm says 'survival' aim for Man Utd after Wolves loss
- Desertions spark panic, and pardons, in Ukraine's army
- China sanctions US firms over Taiwan military support
- World number six Rybakina makes winning start at United Cup
- Israeli strikes hit Yemen airport as WHO chief prepares to leave
- Swiatek not expecting WADA appeal over doping scandal
- 'Dangerous new era': climate change spurs disaster in 2024
- Fritz motivated for Slam success after low-key off-season
- Move over Mercedes: Chinese cars grab Mexican market share
- Zverev aiming to challenge Sinner for top ranking
- N. Korean soldier captured in Russia-Ukraine war: Seoul
- Inspired Tsitsipas looking to 'refresh, regroup' in Australia
- Seahawks edge Bears to boost NFL playoff hopes
- Thunder NBA win streak at nine as Shai ties career high with 45
- India announces state funeral for ex-PM Manmohan Singh
- Japan govt approves record budget for ageing population, defence
- Japanese shares gain on weaker yen after Christmas break
- South Korea's acting president faces impeachment vote
- Fleeing Myanmar, Rohingya refugees recall horror of war
- Smith century puts Australia in control of 4th Test against India
- Israeli strikes hit Yemen as Netanyahu fires warning
- Peru ex-official denies running Congress prostitution ring
BCC | -1.91% | 120.63 | $ | |
NGG | 0.66% | 59.31 | $ | |
GSK | -0.12% | 34.08 | $ | |
BTI | -0.33% | 36.31 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.85% | 23.46 | $ | |
BCE | -0.93% | 22.66 | $ | |
SCS | 0.58% | 11.97 | $ | |
AZN | -0.39% | 66.26 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.67% | 23.32 | $ | |
RIO | -0.41% | 59.01 | $ | |
RBGPF | -1.17% | 59.8 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0.14% | 7.26 | $ | |
RELX | -0.61% | 45.58 | $ | |
JRI | -0.41% | 12.15 | $ | |
BP | 0.38% | 28.96 | $ | |
VOD | 0.12% | 8.43 | $ |
Virgin set for first long-haul flight with low-carbon fuel
British airline Virgin Atlantic on Tuesday operates the first transatlantic flight powered entirely by Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), but environmental groups criticised the event as "greenwashing".
The flight will leave London's Heathrow airport at 1130 GMT bound for New York's JFK.
It is the first time that SAF will be used "in both engines, by a commercial airline, for long-haul flight", the airline said in a statement.
However, the Boeing 787 plane equipped with Rolls-Royce engines will not carry any paying passengers or cargo.
SAFs are produced from renewable biomass and waste resources and can be used in jet fuel to a maximum of 50 percent, having been blended with kerosene, in modern aircraft.
They are seen as the main tool for decarbonising the aviation sector over the coming decades, but the technology is still in its infancy and production remains very expensive.
Also, they are used in combustion engines that still generate carbon dioxide, with decarbonisation taking place further upstream by reusing plant matter instead of extracting hydrocarbons.
The UK government last December announced that it was providing up to £1 million ($1.26 million) in support of the project, led by Virgin in collaboration with the University of Sheffield, US aircraft manufacturer Boeing and British engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce.
Environmental group Stay Grounded called the operation "greenwashing" -- a term used for companies that use deceptive claims to convince the public that their products or operations are environmentally friendly.
"While public focus is on this one seemingly green flight, there are 100,000 daily flights using fossil fuels," said Magdalena Heuwieser, from the Stay Grounded network.
Finlay Asher, an aerospace engineer who has worked for Rolls-Royce, quoted by Stay Grounded, said that the production process was a "technological dead-end" that "can't be sustainably scaled beyond a few percent of existing jet fuel use".
Greenpeace also criticised the event, with its chief scientist Doug Parr warning that "the two potential sources of genuinely sustainable aviation fuel are both severely limited in scale".
"The waste used as feedstock for the bio-kerosene in this flight is not available in quantities large enough to make a big impact on aviation's emissions.
"And the CO2 from Direct Air Capture and green hydrogen from electrolysis -- both used to make e-kerosene -- are very expensive to produce.
"The only effective way to deal with aviation emissions in the short term is by tackling demand, and any suggestion otherwise is just pie in the sky," he added.
The flight comes two days before the UN's COP28 climate conference in Dubai, where the future of fossil fuels will be hotly debated.
A.Seabra--PC