Tuesday Travels: Biofuel to take to the skies
The BBC reported Friday that Air New Zealand plans to take to the skies fueled in part by biofuel. It will be the first commercial test flight using the alternative fuel. The test flight won’t happen until 2008, or even 2009, and will not carry passengers, but the announcement shows an exciting shift in air travel that addresses environmental concerns.
In June this year, initial test (on the ground) of Biofuel blends were tested on commercial jet engines. Green Car Congress reported in Successful Initial Test of 30% Biofuel Blend in Commercial Jet Engine that:
CFM International has successfully carried out an initial test of a CFM56-7B engine using an ester-type biofuel at Snecma’s Villaroche facility near Paris. The CFM56-7B is the exclusive engine for the Boeing Next-Generation Single-aisle airliner: 737-600/-700/-800/-900. Thrust ranges from 18,500 to 27,300 lbs.
The biofuel used for this test is a 30% vegetable oil methyl ester blended with 70% conventional Jet-A1 fuel. This test was designed to check the operation of a jet engine using a fuel made from biomass, without making any technical changes to the engine.
With this type of biofuel, the target is a net reduction of 20 percent in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions compared with current fuels.
Air New Zealand is not the only one awaiting takeoff. The Beebs also reported that “Virgin Atlantic is planning a UK-based test flight early next year which would also see one engine of a four-engined commercial jet running partially or entirely on a biofuel” in partnership with the US, GE and Boeing.
Cool.
While there is a bit of a race on to be the first commercial line in the sky with biofueled engines, it will take some time to get the technology into commercial action. And there are some complex issues to figure out first like how sustainable is biofuel really? How will biofuel crops affect wildlife and agriculture? And then of course there is the issue of supply. Still, I’m excited to see the research taking flight at least. Read the BBC article here…Biofuel trial flight set for 747
Keep Flying:
- On the Mat: The Eco Three-Wheelers at Earth2Tech
- Transportation Tuesday: Top 5 Cities for Public Transit at Inhabitat
- Daily Detox: How was your flight? at Daily Tomorrow
- Tuesday Travels: Eco-friendlier skies with coal? at Daily Tomorrow
- Green Sky Dreams: Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner at Daily Tomorrow