飛行員將試飛純塑料廢品柴油飛機

澳大利亞一位業餘飛行員將於今年7月駕駛一架完全由塑料廢品提煉的燃油爲動力的飛機從悉尼飛往倫敦，全程共飛6天，每天計劃飛行1500英里（約合2414公里），途中將在印度尼西亞、泰國、印度、巴基斯坦、阿拉伯聯合酋長國、約旦、埃及、希臘、法國等國家的15個城市停留，以補充燃油。據介紹，此次飛行的所用燃油是由5噸塑料廢品經新技術提煉而成的1000加侖（4546升）航空級柴油，所有廢品原料均爲不可回收、只能填埋處理的各類塑料廢品。負責提煉的公司負責人表示，塑料廢品提煉的柴油比多數飛機使用的柴油更清潔，生產過程更環保，成本更低。此次飛行途經的國家將會提前將塑料廢品運到位於都柏林的處理工廠，然後將提煉好的燃油分配到飛行員計劃停靠的城市。廢塑料提煉的柴油已經汽車測試，正處於航空發動機測試的早期階段，但尚未用於飛行。因此，這次飛行屬於塑料廢品柴油的首飛。

A pilot will attempt the 10,500-mile trip from Sydney to London using a fuel that has never before been tested in the air – and is produced entirely from plastic waste.

His flight will be powered by five tons of discarded packaging and waste collected from rubbish dumps and – using a pioneering technique – melted down into 1,000 gallons of aviation-grade diesel.

The 41-year-old will leave Sydney in July, flying over Asia, the Middle East and then Europe, and hoping to arrive in London six days later, after flying a single-engine Cessna 172 about 1,500 miles a day at a speed of about 115mph.

To do this, he will have to fly for up to 15-hour stretches to reach his scheduled stops on time. He will travel at an altitude of 5,000ft – much lower than commercial airliners, which reach up to 40,000ft on long-haul flights.

The fuel will come solely from so-called “end-of-life” plastic that cannot be recycled and would otherwise end up as landfill, including household waste such as packaging and wrapping.

The plastic will be collected from the countries in which he is scheduled to stop along the way and shipped to Cynar, the Dublin firm that will help process the waste into aviation-grade diesel.

Recent advances mean that it is now possible to distil plastic – most of which is petroleum-based – into fuel, using a process known as pyrolysis that does not pollute the air.

The company says its plastic waste diesel fuel is cleaner than that used by most planes, its production process is cleaner, and it estimates a lower cost per gallon.

Although it has been tested in cars, it is in the very early stages of aero engine tests and has never been used in flight.

Mr Rowsell, a hobby pilot and insurance broker, decided to undertake the trip to raise awareness of new technologies that are exploring viable, environmentally friendly ways to fly, while also cutting down the amount of plastic waste in landfills around the world.

“I saw the opportunity to link the British adventurous spirit and technological innovation of the early pioneers with similar challenges that face us today,” he said.

“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.”

But the flight will not be without its logistical challenges. Mr Rowsell, who was born in London but now lives in Australia, will have to battle the elements in a plane that is not designed for such long distances.

He must also get the timing right on the stops where batches of the fuel will be positioned in advance. He will take food to last the challenge and use local accommodation near his landing points.

His provisional route stops at 16 locations: Bundaberg, Darwin (Australia), Bali, Jakarta, Medan (Indonesia), Chang Mai (Thailand), Chittagong (Bangladesh), New Delhi (India), Karachi (Pakistan), Muscat (Oman), Abu Dhabi (UAE), Amman (Jordan), Cairo (Egypt), Rhodes (Greece), Nice (France), London.

The weather will be hard to predict and he will have to negotiate several mountains at a dangerously low altitude.

But he is also concerned about other, more unusual hazards: “When you’re flying as low as I will be, you are within the range of RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] and you can’t plan for being shot down mid-air.

"Admittedly it is unlikely, especially as I’m avoiding Syria, but it is still scary to think how vulnerable you can be.”