We've been hyping up the alternative jatropha biofuel idea recently to help planes fly around a bit greener. So we're mighty pleased to hear that Air New Zealand is on track to make what it says will be the world's first large passenger aircraft test on jatrohpa-sourced fuel sometime before the end of 2008.
The jatropha plant, Air NZ says, is a great source for earth-friendly fuel--it grows with little water and produces an inedible oil, and they've been sourcing their jatropha from sustainable plantations in India and South East Africa. The oil is about to be sent to the engine people at Rolls Royce for final testing.
Air New Zealand has big green goals: it wants to be the most environmentally sustainable airline in the world, and has set an objective of using a million barrels of environmentally sustainable fuel per year by 2013. Mightn't be long before we're delayed on the tarmac for re-jatropha-ing.
Air New Zealand's trying it with jatropha, and Virgin Atlantic thought that coconut oil would do the trick. Now it's time for Japan Airlines to give biofuel flying a whirl.
Japan Airlines, aka JAL, is planning a biofuel demonstration flight before the end of March 2009 in a 747; they won't say which Japanese airport they'll fly from yet, but expect the flight to take an hour and to be the first biofuel test flight in Asia.
The other thing JAL won't say is what biofuel they'll use--because apparently they haven't decided yet. They are sure it'll be a second-generation biofuel (that means one that doesn't compete with food crops) so Richard Branson's coconuts are out. We'll have to wait a few months and see what those clever Japanese scientists come up with.
Air New Zealand is getting so green it's gonna blend right in with the trees soon. Enabling domestic passengers to buy carbon credits is old news now, and that program's been extended to international guests now, too. The surcharge you pay gets directed into projects like the Tararua wind farm on New Zealand's north island.
Beyond carbon credits, Air NZ has been carefully optimizing things like speed and weight with the goal of reducing their carbon emissions by 100,000 tons in five years--and they're doing so well they're ahead of schedule.
And now they plan to become the first airline in the world to test a biofuel made from the nut of an Indian plant, called jatropha. They'll test it later this year and already plan to be using it on 50 percent of domestic flights by 2013. Soon the carrier will have to paint all their aircraft green.
Wanna fly green? Fly on coconut oil. That sounds pretty environmentally friendly, which is no doubt the impression Richard Branson was hoping to give us with the weekend's biofuel test flight on a passenger-free Virgin Atlantic flight from London to Amsterdam.
The maiden voyage using a mix of coconut oil, babassu oil and normal, nasty kerosene was a success, especially as plenty of press reports failed to mention the kerosene. Some, however, reminded us that the plant matter made up just 20% of the fuel in just one of the four engines. Doesn't sound like a lot.
But Branson is already talking about research to use other fuels, including one made from algae. What we can't understand is why he isn't researching an even more environmentally friendly (and convenient) method of getting around, like, say, teleporting.
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by amandak
