I cant say I agree with sir Richard Branson in all his endeavors, but maybe his "out of the box" thinking can start pushing us in new directions?

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Tired of skyrocketing jet fuel prices, Virgin Atlantic Airways boss Richard Branson said on Wednesday he plans to turn his back on hydrocarbons and use plant waste to power his fleet.

“We are looking for alternative fuel sources. We are going to start building cellulosic ethanol plants (to make) fuel that is derived from the waste product of the plant,” he told Reuters in an interview in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates.

“It is 100 percent environmentally friendly and I believe it’s the future of fuel, and over the next 20 or 30 years I think it actually will replace the conventional fuel that you get out of the ground.”


[edit on 11/16/05 by s8nlovesme]

well...i think it will take a visonairy like Branson to lead the way that others will follow.....history has always been that way pretty much.

Id like to think that all petro chemical companies are spending vast efforts of time and money in researching solutions that are cleaner and more friendley to the enviroment than oil.

A sad part of me leads me to think they are more interested in promoting this as an image rather than a practicallity?

lol...and whats even worse is that in the same breath, i'll be gutted if we cant build high performance sports cars that can still produce 600bhp running on one of these proposed new enviroment friendley fuels!!......

Regards...good post.

Like "optimus fett" I too would like to believe that oil companies are investing in alternative energy (the very thing which will speed their demise). Likewise I would also like to believe Richard Branson when he says bio-mass will power his airlines. But you have to remember that an alternative fuel would have to be available at airports all around the world, I guess its not as hard as building up a network of bio-mass fuel tanks for every petrol station as there's far more of them, but it entails similar issues.

So right now i say to Richard Branson "good publicity" because nothing beats talk over action (as companies like Shell and BP so frequently remind us). That said I’m sure if there is money in it (which with higher oil prices there probably is) he'll be sincerely interested.
Problem is it will take more than a just a visionary; but also a visionary who is willing to meet his competitors, sit through a series of meeting with successful conclusions, and establish an alternative fuel supply. Unless Virgin Airways expands to own most of the world’s airports it won’t be just Branson who does it. So in a sense by saying he’s the man to do it, it is already just good publicity, so let’s put our wishes towards the collaboration of the major airlines and not just Branson.