It appears that commercial airlines will beat land based transportation vehicles in converting from traditional fuel to biofuels. In fact, 3 airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Continental Airlines and Air New Zealand have successfully tested unmodified airplanes using biofuels made from algae, oils and plants.In February 2008, Virgin Airlines successfully flew one of its 747s from Heathrow airport in London to Amersterdam using a biofuel made of coconut and babassu oil.
Virgin Atlantic's partners in this event were Boeing, GE Aviation and Imperium Renewables. The joint press release is after the jump. Advisers on the plane were monitoring the one engine that was using the biofuel (the other three were using standard fuel as a safety measure) and other systems to learn how to apply the knowledge to future flights.
In December of 2008, Continental Airlines flew a test airplane on biofuel made out of algae and weed. However, in this test, one of the two engines was powered with a mix of 50% kerosene and a blend of fuel derived from algae and jatropha, a weed that bears oil-producing seeds.
This is a first for a U.S. based carrier and one of only a handful of airlines that are testing a new generation of so-called sustainable biofuels that could help airlines cut fuel costs and reduce carbon emissions.
Also in December 2008, Air New Zealand Ltd. became the world's first airline to fly a plane powered partly by jatropha-based fuel.
Japan Airlines Corp. is planning a test flight using fuel refined from camelina, a flowering plant that wheat farmers grow in the high plains of the U.S.
With the latest milestone, a regularly scheduled passenger flight could be powered by biofuel in three years, pending further tests and Federal Aviation Administration certification.
Airlines began seriously looking at potential new fuel sources as oil prices skyrocketed last year and led several carriers to file for bankruptcy. But despite oil prices slumping sharply since then, industry officials said airlines didn't want to be burned again by being too dependent on a single source of fuel.
Algae and jatropha are among some of the more promising biofuel sources because they don't compete with food production or contribute to deforestation, industry officials said.
But airline officials and jet makers cautioned that although tests have been promising, it may take a decade or more before biofuels become a significant source of fuel for airlines. In addition to expanding production sharply, many new refineries would have to be built to produce fuel needed by the carriers.
Air New Zealand, which has been one of the more ambitious in developing alternative fuels, hopes to use biofuel for 10% of its needs by 2013.
Continental's test flight was considered a bit more risky because it involved a plane with two engines compared with four engines for other test flights. The test included powering the right engine with the biofuel mix, turning it off and on as well as abruptly accelerating and slowing down the plane.
Continental and its partners in the project -- Boeing, engine maker CFM International and a refining subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc -- will be analyzing post-flight data to see whether biofuel can be a suitable substitute for traditional fossil fuel " or of
Expect the other airlines to follow suit with testing of biofuels and other alternative fuel solutions.
