A San Francisco judge ruled in March that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) must stop implementations of regulations under the state’s 2006 climate change legislation (AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006) because the state didn’t adequately consider alternatives to a cap-and-trade plan for carbon emissions. In
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alternatives
As I wrote last week, aviation demand for biofuels is bursting at the seams. The trouble is, there are no easy alternatives. Sustainable, non-food feedstocks like camelina and jatropha are just getting traction and the process of turning algae into fuel is still under development, which leaves few alternatives for the petroleum-dependent aviation industry.
Unlike ground transportation, the key issue for airlines is that they are entirely dependent on liquid fuel, and this — right now — is hurting their bottom line. According to the Air Transport Association (ATA), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, fuel expenses have historically ranged from 10 to 15 percent of U.S. passenger airline operating costs, but averaged more than 35 percent in the third quarter of 2008.