Via: NY Times
American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, US Airways, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines and UPS Airlines have signed deals to use 1.5 Million gallons per year of biodiesel from plant waste. The deal was with Rentech Inc, for ground service at LA International Airport (LAX).
Motivations for deals like this not only include environmental benefits, but also fuel price increase hedges. Record losses and bankruptcies in the airline industry have been in part due to high oil prices, and price fluctuation. In some cases, airlines have lost money because of fuel price hedging, rather than just high prices. If airlines using biofuels can prevent $390MM losses, like Delta Airlines in Q2 09, then going green can also be better for the bottom line.
