Flying in the face of convention

A major component of today’s global society is undeniably air transport. It is indispensable to every economic, social and cultural facet of our lives. Air travel has completely revolutionised not only the way we travel, but also how we interact. The air transport sector directly employs 8.4 million people and tens of millions are supported directly and tangentially through the industry. But now aviation is turning more frequently to exploring sustainable alternative fuels, which would allow the achievement of environmentally conscious or ‘green’ mobility. Currently, certified ‘drop-in’ alternative fuels, where a biofuel is meshed with traditional jet fuel without having to bring changes to aircraft design or airport fuelling systems, are now available alongside other options. Now that technical challenges are being tackled, the next barrier in this arena will fall to finding a way to coalesce enough political and financial assistance to enable sufficient availability o these innovative new fuels. Specifications An American Society for Testing and Materials Task...