Bio-fuel Flights - Has Richard Branson Gone Nuts? Environmentalists Think So!

The world’s first bio-fuel commercial flight - powered partly by nuts - took to the air Sunday.  Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic jumbo-jet flew to Amsterdam with one of its engines running on a mixture of mostly bio-fuel made from a blend of plant and nut oils.  However, environmental activists are not convinced that the use of bio-fuels will make much difference because of the continued growth of the airline industry.  They believe Branson was pulling a ‘publicity stunt’ with the bio-fuel flight and trying to divert attention from the fact that he supports the building of a third runway at Heathrow - something they are all vehemently against.

Greenpeace activists were at Heathrow today protesting about climate change.  After climbing on top of a British Airways jet, they displayed banners to bring attention to the danger we all face from global warming and the effects that a third runway at Heathrow will have on the environment. 

So, what should we believe?  Is Richard Branson really motivated to help with the fight against global warming, or is he more interested in lining his pockets?  Branson has committed to spending a large chunk of the profits from his business empire to help with the fight against climate change and global warming.  I’d like to believe he’s sincere.  The airline industry will continue to grow with or without Branson’s input.  Perhaps we should be grateful that a person with a lot of power is at least making an effort to do something about it rather than just talking! 

There’s another side to this argument: As of April 15th this year we will all be putting 2.5% bio-fuel in our cars, already pre-mixed with the petrol and diesel we buy at petrol stations in the UK. Opponents say that this move, and any further increase in the percentage of bio-fuels added should be halted until a sustainable way is found to produce bio-fuels.  There are claims that some types of bio-fuels are no less polluting than fossil fuels.  There are fears that many wildlife habits will be destroyed in the pursuit of bio-fuels - affecting many species or animals and birds.  Using land which would have been used to grow crops could also inevitably mean there will be less food - and we will have to pay more for it!

This entry was posted on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 1:06 pm and is filed under Airlines, Sustainable Tourism, Travel News .

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