SALT LAKE CITY, Ut. -- Airlines have long been the targets of environmentalists, who point out that for every ton of jet fuel burned, two and a half tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are produced. Because a single transatlantic flight can use in excess of 200 tons of fuel, the impact on the environment is significant.

Now, according to Boyd Reegan, president of Green Power Jet, Inc., that is about to change. In a meeting with the media here today, Reegan said that his company has developed a commercial jet engine that will leave the skies cleaner and actually result in "global cooling."

In a prepared statement, Reegan said, "Our revolutionary Greenovator™ jet engine instantaneously extracts and sorts chemical elements from the air. Hydrogen and oxygen are removed and burned as fuel to provide thrust, nitrogen molecules are compressed into ice crystals which are released into the atmosphere to cool the air, and a water byproduct simply evaporates."

Cynthia Yeaner, vice president of product development for Green Power Jet, added, "Additionally, inlets located along the length of the engine nacelle draws carbon dioxide into a compartment where it passes through a special catalytic scrubber. There the carbon and oxygen atoms are separated.

"The additional oxygen is injected into the combustion stream of the jet increasing its power and efficiency while the carbon is mixed into a slurry and shunted to a series of bladders located in the fuel tanks of the aircraft's wings. As fuel is burned, the vacated space in the tanks is filled with the carbon slurry. Upon completion of the flight, the carbonized liquid is pumped out and eventually used in the manufacture of lightweight carbon fiber parts for other aircraft."

Information from the company distributed to the media noted that half of the world's fleet of commercial passenger jets could be retrofitted with the Greenovator engines within seven years. And Reegan indicated that his company is in talks with several major carriers, including ThinAir and Presidential Airlines to replace all their engines even sooner.