An airline spokesperson commented that early tests showed biofuels cost about half the price of normal aviation fuel and produced half of the environmental emissions. Of course, regulators will have to approve the fuel for “safety” before they can officially convert the fleet, but rising prices for aviation fuel and falling support of the airline industry are spurring the search for an alternative.

This is just a preliminary step and is in a research phase. Alternatives to the jatropha plant, such as algae, exist. Not to mention, availability and infrastructure for international as well as domestic flights doesn’t currently exist and won’t until airlines and fueling companies are able to reach an agreement.

A booming airline industry might be great for the economy, but it’s wreaking increasing havoc with the environment. Aviation today spews out only 3 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, but the segment is expanding fast — faster, in fact, than any improvements in efficiency are likely to keep pace with. According to the Christian Science Monitor,

"Efficiency is only set to improve at 1 or 2 percent per year at best, while the number of passenger kilometers is growing at 5 or 6 percent," says Peter Lockley, head of policy development at the Aviation Environment Federation, a British think tank. "So emissions are going up steadily in the gap between the two."

For some, the answer is to stop flying now, cold turkey. To halt an entire industry dead in its tracks, though, is sure to risk massive, global economic damage. So what other options are there?

The best idea would seem to be a carbon tax on air travel that is hiked incrementally over the next decade or two to the point that flying is increasingly discouraged … and enough funding is raised to support research and development for more sustainable travel alternatives. It’s a better solution than continuing with business as usual, which appears certain to ramp up greenhouse gas emissions to unacceptable levels in the very near future.