Thursday, December 11, 2008

Continental to fly on pond scum

This isn't too much to do with business media other than the fact that everybody I know in the industry in Asia travels like demons and we all have carbon footprints that would make a yeti look dainty. There is increasing discussion, particularly within the events industry, about how we can address the challenges to business travel posed by the twin threats of economic downturn and increased environmental concerns.

So, I was intrigued by this piece on the Economist's Gulliver blog about alternative fuels. After Richard Branson's efforts to fly a 747 on old chip fat (actually, a blend of coconut and babassu oil and jet fuel), Air New Zealand is next into the fray with a plane using some jatropha oil for one of its three engines. But, what really caught my eye was the news of Continental's plans to fly a 737 on fuel derived from pond scum (plus jatropha oil and jet fuel).

I trust that the marketers and scientists will come up with grander and more palatable names for it, but I think that Pond Scum Air could have a future as Greenpeace's airline of choice. How about it as offficial airline for your next event?

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