Tobacco as a renewable jet fuel? - Polidicks

[quote][B]Airplanes Might Soon Run on Jet Fuel Made of Tobacco[/B] Boeing recently announced a collaboration with South African Airlines (SAA) to develop a renewable jet fuel made out of a new, energy-rich tobacco plant produced in South Africa. The nicotine-free hybrid crop, known as Solaris, is currently produced by a company called SkyNRG, which will ramp up production to meet the companies' needs. [/quote] [url=https://news.vice.com/article/airplanes-might-soon-run-on-jet-fuel-made-of-tobacco]Source[/url] Not really renewable more of an alternative but, if it helps reduce the overall costs of airline tickets and save the airlines some money hell lets jump on it. Interesting snippet, [quote] Airlines have agreed on industry-wide goals of carbon-neutral growth by 2020 and reducing carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2050 in comparison to 2005 levels. [/quote]

Energy companies must be shitting themselves as usual.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the first ethanol fuels made with tobacco and hemp? Hell, I remember hearing a story that the first test-bed model of the Model A used hemp ethanol.

[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;45721502]Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the first ethanol fuels made with tobacco and hemp? Hell, I remember hearing a story that the first test-bed model of the Model A used hemp ethanol.[/QUOTE] So I can get high while I get high in the sky? Count me in.

Yes please, and Tobacco will ran out and no smokers again!

sorry i only fly on planes fueled by weed

if they made a really bad batch of tobacco would this mean the entire sky would smell like shit for a week

Well, better it goes into a jet engine than someones lungs

does this mean i can start smoking in an airplane yet.

[QUOTE=zeromancer;45721902]does this mean i can start smoking in an airplane yet.[/QUOTE] only if you smoke inside the engine

[QUOTE=nnanna;45721941]only if you smoke inside the engine[/QUOTE] well, guess it's better then having to step outside for a minute.

[QUOTE=Wii60;45721843]sorry i only fly on planes fueled by weed[/QUOTE] This just in: plane crashes down due to using fuel made of marijuana needles!

probably won't get too far because of the negative conotations and the lack of funding, plus they'd have to develope whole new ways to harvest tobacco because the usual method is horrible and doesn't really make for growing this stuff economically. it'd be great to see a win-win for both the farmers and biofuel industry but i doubt this will go past a few theoretical number crunches, i can't see big tobacco picking up the research after their grant expires

A lot of talk about reducing carbon emissions, but smoke from tobacco causes second-hand smoke disease. What would the emissions be for the fuel?

[QUOTE=Daemon White;45722276]A lot of talk about reducing carbon emissions, but smoke from tobacco causes second-hand smoke disease. What would the emissions be for the fuel?[/QUOTE] second hand smoke isn't specific to tobacco smoke afaik

Suddenly, tobacco becomes a Schedule I drug.

[QUOTE=Aide;45721427]Not really renewable more of an alternative but, if it helps reduce the overall costs of airline tickets and save the airlines some money hell lets jump on it.[/QUOTE]Uh, you might not have read the article all the way. Using hybrid tobacco means the profit margins for everyone is far better than using other type of crops and won't be a drain on food production. This isn't going to reduce any costs at all, but it brings pure ethanol closer to reality. Oil from the ground is always going to be cheaper and easier to use than biofuels, but like most easy alternatives it's dirty and won't last forever. [QUOTE=Sableye;45722012]probably won't get too far because of the negative conotations and the lack of funding, plus they'd have to develope whole new ways to harvest tobacco because the usual method is horrible and doesn't really make for growing this stuff economically. it'd be great to see a win-win for both the farmers and biofuel industry but i doubt this will go past a few theoretical number crunches, i can't see big tobacco picking up the research after their grant expires[/QUOTE]Since this isn't normal tobacco and preserving the leaves as neatly as possible isn't a goal, they can just run an enormous mower through the field and use the entire mangled mess for ethanol production. Tobacco farming would be really cheap if nobody gave a shit about smoking nasty green leaves with the twigs and everything in it, so harvesting these plants will make things far easier and cheaper for the farmers. [editline]17th August 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Daemon White;45722276]A lot of talk about reducing carbon emissions, but smoke from tobacco causes second-hand smoke disease. What would the emissions be for the fuel?[/QUOTE]Did you not read, or is this clever sarcasm? I can't tell.

[QUOTE=Daemon White;45722276]A lot of talk about reducing carbon emissions, but smoke from tobacco causes second-hand smoke disease. What would the emissions be for the fuel?[/QUOTE] breathing any smoke does that

There won't be 'no-fly zones' soon, they'll just be smoke-free zones.

Well, which is worse? Exhaust from the common jet fuel, or exhaust from the tobacco fuel?

[QUOTE=Adlertag1940;45721491]Energy companies must be shitting themselves as usual.[/QUOTE] tobacco companies vs energy companies: who wins? or, could one hope that they engage in MAD and delete themselves from the world?

One thing to be clear, this doesn't make ethanol, they actually have a strain of tobacco that generates a lot of tar which is converted to crude oil, just wanted to clear that up, it actually requires less steps to make this into oil and you wouldn't be able to use it for cigs, which is kinda why I dont see big tobacco opening their wallet, they literally have a monopoly on tobacco production, competition from another strain for a totally different use would break their stranglehold on many tobacco farmers

lmao then people can say 'i smoke jet fuel'