Air New Zealand tests jatropha biofuel; Continental to try out jatropha and algae
Air New Zealand has successfully completed the world’s first commercial-plane test flight partially powered by jatropha-based biofuel, according to various media sources.
The two-hour test flight launched from Auckland airport on Dec. 30, 2008. It ran on a “biofuel blend” consisting of half jatropha oil and half Jet A1 fuel, according to a press release by the airline.
Jatropha oil is extracted from the seeds of the jatropha tree, which grows in warm climates. Fuel made with the oil costs less than crude oil and produces far fewer carbon emissions than does fossil fuel, according to June 2008 Los Angeles Times article “Jatropha plant’s oil studied as biofuel for jets.”
The jatropha oil used by Air New Zealand comes from sustainable farms in Africa and India, said the airline in a BusinessGreen report.
Air New Zealand is not a pioneer in using biofuel for flights. Virgin Atlantic is among airlines that have tried out biofuel, though its first test flight last year of a 747 between London and Amsterdam partly run on Brazilian babassu nuts and coconuts proved controversial.
Biofuels have been criticized for harming, not helping, the environment. As explained in the L.A. Times article, “production of ethanol has been blamed for corn shortages that have contributed to higher food prices. Others have been blamed for deforestation and contributing to global warming.”
On Wednesday, Jan. 7, Continental Airlines plans to hold the “first biofuel-powered demonstration flight of a U.S. commercial airliner,” according to an airline press release. Its Boeing 737-800 departing from Houston will be powered by a fuel blend including jatropha and algae.
The airline claims these sources are “sustainable, second-generation fuel sources that do not impact food crops or water resources, and do not contribute to deforestation.”
– Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times
[Photo: Jatropha seed pods; Air New Zealand]
One Comment on “Air New Zealand tests jatropha biofuel; Continental to try out jatropha and algae”
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January 6th, 2009 at 7:09 am
The important point about both the Air New Zealand and Continental Airlines flights are that the fuel is sustainable. Unlike the first-generation biofuel such as ethanol (which doesn’t work in jet engines anyway), the sources being investigated by the aviation industry are second-generation and sustainable. We cover off the reasons and potential sources in the web resource http://www.enviro.aero. These two flights, and a Japan Airlines flight scheduled for the end of January, are part of a series of tests taking place around the world as the aviation industry searches for the best alternative fuel to power us towards carbon neutral growth.
Haldane Dodd
Air Transport Action Group, Geneva