By Allison Lampert

LAS VEGAS, Oct 22 (Reuters) - At the world’s biggest industry show in Las Vegas high-end jets are drawing purchasers with their smooth silhouettes, plush cabins - and significantly, their use of alternative fuels.

Fuel producers and jetmakers are keen to showcase novel types of air travel fuel deemed less hazardous to the climate, from used cooking oil to the noticeably less attractive meat waste.

Business jet operators, like airlines, have actually bowed to ecological pressure on aviation and devoted to cutting in half carbon emissions by 2050 compared to 2005.

Their hope is that adopting sustainable fuel to curb emissions might make company jets more appealing to ecologically conscious buyers - specifically corporations facing questions over sustainability from investors or green project groups.

The schedule of less contaminating personal jets might also spare the rich and popular the unfavorable publicity experienced by Britain’s Prince Harry and his other half Meghan over a current personal jet trip to southern France.

Five Gulfstream jets on display screen in Las Vegas are using California-produced fuel from inedible beef tallow.

The current waste-based fuels include “fats, grease and oils that are by-products of the food market,” said Bryan Sherbacow, chief commercial officer of Boston-based biofuel producer World Energy, which produces fuel from meat waste utilized by Gulfstream.

“All of our product is inedible.”

Some of the other 79 aircraft on screen are expected to be powered by 150,000 gallons of other eco-friendly fuel blends expected to be pumped at the show.

FLIGHT SHAMING

Private jets account for less than 0.1% of overall annual carbon emissions worldwide, but can emit, on average, up to 20 times more carbon emissions per traveler mile than jetliners, according to the London-based private charter company Victor.

Prince Harry has safeguarded his periodic usage of private jets to guarantee his family’s security, and has actually stated that on the rare events he does not fly commercially he offsets his emissions.

But planemakers say events such as the furore over his schedule have actually included fresh challenges for a market already making every effort to justify its contribution to cutting corporate expenses.

“Incidents of flight shaming including making use of private jets are unfortunate when you consider that our industry has provided fuel performance enhancements of 40% over the past 40 years,” said Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal.

Bombardier thinks increased sustainable fuel usage will assist the market make inroads with corporations and wealthy buyers. According to market data, billionaires only have a 19% business jet ownership rate.

But even an image transformation - with jets sporting stickers like “this aircraft flies on renewable fuels” and organisers adding alternative fuel pumps for visiting planes - is unlikely to please all critics at the Oct 22-24 luxury jet occasion.

Environmentalists and some experts remain skeptical that biojetfuels, usually mixed 50-50 with kerosene, will make a significant impact on about luxury travel.

“No quantity of jatropha curcas or Brazil-nut fuel can make business jets look eco-friendly,” stated aviation expert Richard Aboulafia.

Demand from company jet operators for sustainable fuels now far exceeds supply and their interest could drive future production, Sherbacow said.

World Energy, which produces 40 million gallons of biofuel at its California plant, could expand production approximately 150 million gallons by 2022.

Corporate charter companies and experts are also seeing more interest from customers who wish to buy carbon credits to balance out emissions from their flights.

Brian Proctor, CEO of Mente Group, a U.S. consultancy, stated emissions contributed in a business jet utilization study his business just recently finished for a Fortune 500 business.

“At the end of the day, I think that price, cost per hour, variety, speed and performance, that’s still the (sales) motorist. But I think people are becoming more knowledgeable about the sustainability of operations and how it affects the planet.” (Reporting By Allison Lampert, Editing by Tim Hepher and Alexandra Hudson)