“Aviation leads technology in many instances, why not do
it once again with this fuel? If this plan works it
would solve some major environmental problems all at
once.”
Jeremy (41) explained.
Step two was to put together a team including
international risk and survival specialist Tony Loughran
and project manager Tarsha Burn, who is in charge of the
strategic and tactical planning, sponsorship and
production.
The pilot has been put through rigorous tests. Tony,
from Zerorisk International, has designed a series of
mind and body bending survival courses from crash
simulations to water survival, wilderness training and
even a kidnapping, to prepare Jeremy for any
eventuality. The flight will test his physical and
mental endurance to the limit. Not that Jeremy is a
novice. He has a passion for flying, with a piloting
pedigree in his family that goes back to World War One.
A
pilot since he was 15, he has flown aerobatics,
volunteered for the Royal Flying Doctors service and in
a series of high-risk adventures in single engine
airplanes he has logged 25,000 kilometers over the
Pacific. In 2011 Jeremy flew the Pacific to re-trace the
epic flight endeavor of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith in a
tiny single engine aircraft, to raise money for the
Royal Flying Doctor Service, so he is no stranger to
perilous aerial adventure. The logistical challenges
this time are massive.
The plastic fuel has been tested in cars and is being
rigorously tested to work in diesel powered airplanes.
The airports where he stops will need to store this
precious fuel to keep the integrity of the flight. He
takes off on his exciting and potentially ground
breaking mission, from Sydney later this year to fly
more than 10,000 nautical miles and will chase a record
time set by the pioneers. Stopping en route in Darwin,
Christmas Island, Sri Lanka, Oman, Jordan and Malta, he
is expected to arrive in London six days after
departure. Jeremy will be able to keep the world updated
on his progress through advanced satellite technology,
including data communication tools from his aircraft and
his exploits are expected to be made into a documentary
film.
Plastic takes 100 years to degrade, which means that
every single piece we have not recycled still exists.
Using a process called pyrolysis; plastics are heated in
an oxygen-free environment to prevent them from burning,
and then broken into their component hydrocarbons to
create the equivalent of a petroleum distillate. This
can then be separated into different fuels. As there is
no burning of the plastics, but rather a melting
process, there are NO toxic emissions released into the
environment.
The end product is cleaner, lower in sulfur, and in the
case of a viable diesel used for transportation, it is a
higher quality than regular diesel fuel. The pyrolysis
process is able to recycle the carbon (that would
otherwise reside in landfills or in the oceans), thus
massive reduction in carbon dioxide emissions thus
neatly fitting within the carbon footprint debate of
aiming to be carbon neutral (Australia being the first
to ratify the carbon tax).
The end of life plastics can be recycled to 100%: 95%
usable for diesel fuel, the remaining 5% is char (the
solid material that remains) is given a second life and
can be used in creating various floor coverings; the
extrusion of the plastic fuel is required to go through
a final refining process to bring it up to par for
aviation diesel (this precious fuel can in effect run a
GA fleet). This waste fuel can compete with the billions
of barrels of fuel being produced every day around the
globe.
The world has stocks of landfills of plastic,
industries and consumers dictate the need and use of
a plethora of plastics, thus there will always be
synthetic fuel reserves. The synthetic recyclable
fuel, when used in vehicles, burns more effectively,
which significantly indicates this is the fuel for
the future, equaling a cleaner fuel for the planet.
For the 4000L of plastic fuel that our world first
‘high wire’ flight will require to consume,
approximately five tons of waste plastic will be
required.
|