Thursday, February 23, 2023

When environmentalists run headlong into each other...

 

I couldn't help smiling at this headline:



On the one hand, you have all those well-meaning aviation engineers trying to figure out how to make and distribute and use sustainable fuel, rather than regular ol' aviation kerosene or gasoline.

So far, so good.

On the other hand, you have all the green "save-the-earth" types trying to cut back on human farming activities and discourage the eating of meat - which, in the process, will raise fewer animals, that in turn will produce less manure.

What happens when the green, reduced-manure farms run headlong into the demand for more manure to fuel aircraft, and vice versa?  I suspect someone hasn't thought this all the way through . . .

There's also the small issue of aircraft design in an age of sustainable fuels.

"This damn airplane's useless!  Who designed it, anyway?  It's full of s***!"

"Er... well... yes, actually it is... or, at least, its fuel tanks are..."



Peter


11 comments:

Vitaeus said...

Gives new meaning to the sh!t hitting the propellor!

Eric Wilner said...

Is the manure that we're doing away with and also using for jet fuel the same manure we're supposed to be using instead of synthetic fertilizer?

kamas716 said...

They’ve been testing bio-aviation fuel in B-52s for a couple of decades now. I’m not sure how their returns on that have come out. I suspect that it’s not as efficient as as the petroleum based fuel though.

ChrisJ said...

Or the Turbofan...

Beans said...

In response to kamas716, Germany has been using biofuels in their tanks, planes and ships. Coincidentally, at one time, no German ships could sail because their engines were kaput from biofuel usage, less than half of German planes could fly because of biofuel usage, and the same with German armor and other ground vehicles.

Sadly, there is a readily renewable source out there that provides excellent fuel that doesn't clog engines and fuel systems. It's... petroleum, the world's second most common liquid and not made from dead dinosaurs. The earth continually renews existing oil fields and there are tons of unexplored/unexploited fields out there.

And one can also use natural gas, or coal to produce liquid fuels.

James said...

With the ever growing bureaucracy, there should be no shortage of bullshit.

A Reader said...

If they turn manure into jet fuel, is it fly-odiesel?

Weetabix said...

The greens themselves produce a lot of cranio-manure. Maybe they could turn that into fuel of some sort?

JohnBlock@gmail.com said...

Coal-based ersatz gas and diesel fuel powered the Nazi war machine after we bombed the Pelosti oil fields out from under them.....

Anonymous said...

Something that occurred to me today. I understand that a lot of the "save the earth" types have pets, not children. And pet food is meat-based. So where do those people think the food for their "fur babies" is going to come from?

Eric Wilner said...

Anon: the fur babies will eat Soylent® Pet Food, obviously! Remember, 90% or more of the population needs to go, in order to create Utopia. Plenty of protein to be processed into critter chow.
(There are actually ditzes out there who believe that carnivores can be retrained to be vegan. I've met some of them. Their pets are Not Happy.)