Day two at Farnborough and already many of the manufacturers are announcing orders with more to follow. The business of the show is business, after all, and it is fascinating to walk round the trade show and realise just how many different companies are involved in the aviation industry, with all the jobs and economic benefit this brings around the world.

It is also gratifying to see how many parts of the industry are taking their environmental responsibilities seriously. We have seen parts manufacturers who are striving to make their products as light as possible in order to save fuel; a brake manufacturer who has developed a brake that slows the plane down without the fuel burn used before; and providers of air traffic management solutions which minimise flight time and thus, carbon emissions.

We also spoke to Paul Nash, Head of New Energies for Airbus and Billy Glover, Managing Director Environmental Strategy for Boeing, who both spoke about the tremendous potential of biofuels. The consensus seems to be that there will not be a ‘one size fits all’ approach to biofuel production as different countries and communities will draw upon the feedstocks (plants, waste and even algae) which make economic and environmental sense to them. This makes good sense and, in the end, as long as the fuels produced remain ‘drop in’ then it will make no difference to the industry. The future in this area is very exciting and will make a huge difference to aviation’s environmental impact. Both these interviews will be available on the YouTube channel.