“Within five to 10 years, Boeing and Airbus jetliners could be flying the friendly green skies with a blend of fuel made from plants rather than petroleum,” wrote Seatttlepi.com earlier this week. “That’s a realistic target, barring some obstacle that we don’t know about today,” said Billy Glover of The Boeing Co.
The news is likely to be welcome by European environmentalists as the aviation industry has become an icon of carbon emission. Even though Europeans still travel intensely within the continent as well as to the sunnier shores of Pacific Asia, the love affair with aerial globetrotting is starting to wane as the environmental impact of flying becomes a concern for an increasing number of people.
Comment: the airline industry has a moral obligation to clean up its act and embrace cleaner fuel. We can’t ban flying but the industry may well lose a considerable chunk of its clientele if it doesn’t reduce the damage it causes. Surely if we can get such heavy machines flying across the globe like there is no gravity, we can also turn flying into a cleaner human activity, right?
