The power of dumb ideas

UnitedEcoSkies.jpg


The power of dumb ideas.

“Sometime this summer, a United Airlines flight will take off from Los Angeles International Airport bound for San Francisco using fuel generated from farm waste and oils derived from animal fats.”

This could go from dumb to ugly: if they land in San Francisco smelling like French fries and the lefties discover they had trans fats in the jet fuel, there’ll be riots.

J.P. Travis: Born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1976 graduate of University of Michigan, father, grandfather, husband, founder and CEO of Travelyn Publishing (http://www.travelynpublishing.com/), and passionate anti-government believer in individual liberty.

View Comments (28)

  • if they land in San Francisco smelling like French fries and the lefties discover they had trans fats in the jet fuel, there’ll be riots.

    I'd be more concerned that they might mistake the smell for K-Y Jelly or Astro Glide! Then you might have to deal with a mass orgy in the airport!

  • It's a great idea, because spending $30 a gallon for bio-jet fuel versus the $4.50 per gallon for regular petroleum based fuel makes the airlines so much more profitable.
    Hope any company stupid enough to follow this logic goes out of business.

  • With all the fast food places shutting down where's the oil going to come from? Just let everyone know they're about to board a green flight. That way they'll have a chance to get that extra life insurance

  • I don't know about these bio fuels but I do know about ethanol.

    1. ethanol has 80% the energy density of gasoline. IOW, 1 gallon of ethanol is equal to .8 gallon of gasoline.
    2. It takes about 1.3 gallons of gasoline to make each gallon of ethanol.
    3. Moisture in ethanol causes engines to fail prematurely. Also causes certain kinds of common elastomers in tubing and seals to fail prematurely.

    In short for every useful gallon of ethanol we use 1.625 gallons of gasoline. Plus engines wear faster and require replacement and servicing more often (equating to more energy usage to replace). This in now way is offsetting anything but is exacerbating the problem

    Go figure another big eco-big government solution that makes the problem worse at higher costs. Color me shocked.

    • "Also causes certain kinds of common elastomers in tubing and seals to fail prematurely."

      I read once that about half the cars in Brazil collapsed because of that a few years back, when The Gov mandated ethanol. Fortunately, newer cars are more resistant.

      • Well those material substitutes sure as hell are not less expensive. Again hitting the consumer in the pocketbook but I think that is the whole idea. The eco-nazis and big government (BIRM) want there to be more poor people and an elimination of the middle class.

        • Well, it is much easier to control the poor, just offer them some free shit and they will beat a path to your door, and do whatever they must to get the freebies, even if it's against their best interests.

  • Worse case scenario..Planes engines fail, plane crashes, but on the upside it smells good for a mile around the impact crater.

  • Heh. Last month United used the aircraft in that picture to promote carbon offsets. United paid the optional carbon credit for each passenger on each flight it took for one month. In doing so, United flew that aircraft at a profit loss for the entire month. In effect burning a crapton of jet fuel for absolutely no purpose. I posted a statement to that effect in the comments section under the story in our company website. They censored, then deleted my comment before anyone got to read it.

    • Even scarier than United buying into this bullshit, Obama has the Air Force using bio-fuel in warplanes. Just what we need, F-16s, already a fighter past its sell-by date, flying around on used French fry oil, smelling like a Get-'em-and-Go.