Passenger Jet Fueled by Cooking Fat Crosses the Atlantic

Passenger Jet Fueled by Cooking Fat Crosses the Atlantic

由烹饪油燃料驱动的客机横跨大西洋

【原文听力】

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　　By Dan Friedell

　　29 November 2023

　　British Businessman Richard Branson and Britain's Department of Transport organized a flight crossing the Atlantic Ocean by a jet using fuel made from animal fat.

　　The Boeing 787 passenger airplane flew from London to New York on Tuesday using what the organizers called sustainable jet fuel.

　　Branson founded Virgin Atlantic airlines. The airline said it used a fuel made from waste fats, including animal fat used in cooking. The transport department spent over $1.2 million for the flight.

　　Branson was on the plane, along with reporters, engineers and government officials as it crossed the Atlantic Ocean. There were no paying passengers.

　　"The world will always assume something can't be done, until you do it," Branson said.

　　The transport department called the trip "a huge step towards jet zero." "Jet zero" is a play on words. It means the trip did not use traditional jet fuel that comes from oil. Some officials in the international air travel industry say they hope their companies can reach what is called "net zero" by 2050. "Net zero" is a proposed balance between the release of carbon gases into the atmosphere and the capture of those gases.

　　However, organizers admit the mix of fuel used on Tuesday's trip will not be widely available anytime soon.

　　The U.S. Department of Energy says sustainable aviation fuel is the best way to reach the "net zero" target by 2050. The government says sustainable aviation fuel cuts the release of greenhouse gases, gases said to cause warming, by 70 percent. However, the Department of Energy said the 2050 goal is "aspirational." That means it is unlikely to be reached.

　　In the U.S., sustainable jet fuel production increased from about 8 million liters in 2016 to about 60 million liters in 2022. But that is only about 0.1 percent of the fuel used by major airlines. In 2018, the Federal Aviation Administration set a goal of producing about 15 billion liters per year.

　　President Joe Biden's administration said in 2021 that it wanted three times that amount by 2030 and for commercial airlines to fly on 100 percent sustainable fuel by 2050. In Britain, the goal is for 10 percent of jet fuel to come from what it calls sustainable sources by 2030.

　　Holly Boyd-Boland is an official with Virgin Atlantic. She said Tuesday's flight shows a sustainable flight is possible, but the difficulty is in producing enough of the new fuel "so that we're flying more sustainable aviation fuel every day."

　　Cait Hewitt is the policy director for the British non-profit group Aviation Environment Federation. The group is interested in reducing the effect of the aviation industry on the environment.

　　She said, "the idea that this flight somehow gets us closer to guilt-free flying is a joke." She said it will be difficult to increase production of sustainable jet fuel to the point that it makes a difference.

　　I'm Dan Friedell.

　　Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press.

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　　由Dan Friedell撰写

　　2023年11月29日

　　英国商人理查德·布兰森和英国交通部组织了一次使用由动物脂肪制成的燃料的喷气机飞越大西洋的航班。

　　这架波音787客机于周二使用组织者所称的可持续喷气燃料从伦敦飞往纽约。

　　布兰森创立了维珍大西洋航空公司。该航空公司表示，它使用了由废弃脂肪（包括烹饪中使用的动物脂肪）制成的燃料。交通部为这次飞行花费了超过120万美元。

　　布兰森与记者、工程师和政府官员一同乘坐飞机飞越大西洋。没有付费乘客。

　　布兰森说：“世界总是会认为某件事无法完成，直到你做到它。”

　　交通部称这次旅行是“向零排放喷气机的巨大步伐”。"零排放喷气机"是一种双关语，意味着这次旅行没有使用来自石油的传统喷气燃料。一些国际航空旅行业的官员表示，他们希望他们的公司能在2050年前达到所谓的"净零"。"净零"是一种提出的平衡，即大气中碳气体的排放与这些气体的捕获之间的平衡。

　　然而，组织者承认，周二旅行中使用的燃料混合物在短期内不会广泛使用。

　　美国能源部表示，可持续航空燃料是到2050年实现"净零"目标的最佳方式。政府表示，可持续航空燃料将温室气体的排放量减少了70%，这些气体被认为是导致全球变暖的原因。然而，能源部表示，2050年的目标是"有抱负的"。这意味着它不太可能实现。

　　在美国，可持续喷气燃料的生产量从2016年的约800万升增加到2022年的约6000万升。但这只占主要航空公司使用的燃料的约0.1%。2018年，联邦航空管理局设定了每年生产约150亿升的目标。

　　乔·拜登总统的政府在2021年表示，他们希望到2030年这个数量能增加三倍，并希望商业航空公司在2050年前使用100%的可持续燃料。在英国，目标是到2030年，10%的喷气燃料来自可持续来源。

　　霍莉·博伊德-博兰德是维珍大西洋航空的一名官员。她表示，周二的飞行表明可持续飞行是可能的，但难点在于生产足够的新型燃料，“以便我们每天都在使用更多的可持续航空燃料。”

　　凯特·休伊特是英国非营利组织航空环境联盟的政策主任。该组织致力于减少航空业对环境的影响。

　　她表示，“这次飞行让我们更接近无罪飞行的想法简直是个笑话。”她说，提高可持续喷气燃料的生产量到可以产生影响的程度将会很困难。

　　我是丹·弗里德尔。

　　丹·弗里德尔根据美联社的报道为英语学习改编了这个故事。

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　　这个故事中的词汇

　　sustainable –adj. 可持续的，与不完全耗尽资源的使用方式有关的理念

　　assume –v. 在不知道事情是真实的情况下认为它是真实的

　　aviation –n.与飞行和飞机有关的事物

　　guilt –n. 对你所做或已做的事情的羞愧感