Japan Airlines undertakes biofuel powered test flight
Jan 31, 2009 Green Technologies, Information of the Day
Japan Airlines
Japan Airlines (JAL) became the latest airline to conduct a demonstration flight using a biofuel blend. An approximately one and half-hour demo flight using a JAL-owned Boeing 747-300 aircraft, had a blend of 50% biofuel and 50% traditional Jet-A jet fuel powering one of the 4 engines.
The biofuel component tested was a mixture of three second-generation biofuel feedstocks: camelina (84%), jatropha (under 16%), and algae (under 1%). While biofuels derived from corn have been blamed for food crisis by competing with food crops , there are skeptics for even the second generation of biofuel which may not be as carbon neutral as they appear at first glance.
Virgin Atlantic had tested biofuels in jet engines in February 2008 while Continental Airlines and Air New Zealand had done their own tests recently. Even in today’s era of low oil prices, it is heartening to see the efforts of these airlines to test alternative fuel sources. Air travel contributes about 2% to overall emission ofgreenhouse gases. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: biofuel, Camelina, Jaan Airlines, Jatropha, Jet fuel
Air New Zealand tests jatropha as fuel
Dec 31, 2008 Green Technologies, Information of the Day
Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand successfully undertook its first biofuel powered flight yesterday, joining Virgin Airlines in exploring newer alternatives for Aviation Turbine Fuel.
During a two-hour flight to and from Auckland International Airport, the Air New Zealand crew sought to test how the fuel, made from jatropha plants and blended 50:50 with Jet A1 fuel in the tank of one of four Rolls-Royce engines on a 747-400, stood up to use at high altitudes and in other demanding conditions.
Air New Zealand had Boeing and a subsidiary of Honewell as partners in the test flight. While there has been a lot of debate on whether biofuel really cut down emissions or whether they cause food crisis, jatropha is seen as promising because it can grow under hostile climate and lands unsuitable for foodcrop production.
Watch a video of the people behind this attempt after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Air New Zealand, biofuel, Boeing, Jatropha
Continental Airlines plans to test biofuels for flight
Dec 11, 2008 Green Technologies
Continental Airlines, in partnership with Boeing, is planning a test flight of a 737-800 aircraft partially fueled by biofuels. The test is scheduled for Jan. 7 in Houston. The plane, which will not carry passengers, will be outfitted with a right engine running on a 50-50 blend of traditional jet fuel and a mixture of biofuels including algae and jatropha plants. This will be the first such test by an American carrier.
Air New Zealand was planning to test a similar biofuel powered flight last week, but postponed the flight while it deals with the crash of one of its aircraft off the coast of France. Virgin Atlantic already ran a test from London to Amsterdam with fuel mixed with coconut oil and babassu oil earlier this year. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: biofuel, Continental Airlines, Jatropha, US
Tata Chemicals get together with jatropha seedling company JOIL
Nov 29, 2008 Green Technologies, Natural Resource Conservation
Tata Chemicals
Tata Chemicals Ltd through its wholly-owned subsidiary Tata Chemicals Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. signed a joint venture (JV) agreement to invest S$25 million in a Singapore-based jatropha seedling company, JOil this week. JOil has been set up by the Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL) in venture with other investors in Singapore. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: biodiesel, India, Jatropha, Singapore, Tata, Tata Chemicals