Vegas Airport drops on world’s busiest list
McCarran International Airport dropped two notches last year in a ranking of the world’s busiest airport.
But the Las Vegas airport remained seventh on the list of U.S. airports ranked by passenger traffic in 2009.
Rankings released Wednesday by the Airports Council International in Geneva dropped McCarran from 15th to 17th in passenger traffic among world airports. McCarran’s 40.5 million passengers in 2009 was 8.2 percent fewer than in 2008.
Boeing likely to boost 737, 777 production rates
Boeing is considering boosting production of the 737 and 777 with a decision to be made by mid-year.
The current 737 build rate is 31.5 units per month and the company expects to make a decision in June on whether to raise it. Last week, Airbus announced it was taking the A320 rate to 36 per month from 34 as of December (ATWOnline, March 10).
Planes may fly mostly on biofuels with 10 years
Aviation experts say that with the volatile oil market, more and more airlines will fly with biofuels within a decade.
Though biofuels are still in the experimental stage, the projected shift has stoked concern among environmentalists that the possible insatiable appetite of airlines for plant oil will hasten the destruction of tropical forests and the conversion of cropland from food to fuel.
Dependency on agrofuels “will lead to faster deforestation and climate change and spells disaster for indigenous peoples, other forest-dependent communities and small farmers,” said a statement from the Global Forest Coalition, an alliance of environmental groups.
(Photo: Simon Davison/Flickr Creative Commons)
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Bio fuels don’t have to lead to more deforestation and/or destruction of tropical forests or even converting cropland from food production to fuel production.
In reverse order, we have had a surplus of corn production for years. We’re not talking about too much just for the US but so much that no one will buy it.
Additionally, corn is not the most effective plant to convert to fuel, better choices are a variety of plants that grow in marginal lands. In North America, the best choices are things like switch grass and cattails, both of which grow on land that corn, wheat, barley, rice, etc., won’t grow in. And they have the added benefit of being good for the environment. Picture the banks of major rivers being lined with cattails, that help filter the water, removing a range of pollutants, as well as acting as barriers to flooding.
Given that these grow in places and quantities that don’t require any additional deforestation, it would seem that the world is focusing on the wrong plants, sugar cane, sugar beets and corn are not the best choices to make bio-fuels.