Thu, Jan 08, 2009
On A Wing, A Prayer... And Pond Scum
On Wednesday, Continental Airlines demonstrated the use of
sustainable biofuel to power a commercial aircraft for the first
time ever in North America. The demonstration flight -- conducted
in partnership with Boeing, GE Aviation/CFM International, and
Honeywell's UOP -- also marked the first sustainable biofuel
demonstration flight by a commercial carrier using a two-engine
aircraft, a Boeing 737-800 equipped with CFM International CFM56-7B
engines.
"This demonstration flight represents another step in
Continental's ongoing commitment to fuel efficiency and
environmental responsibility," said Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer Larry Kellner before the 90-minute flight departed Houston
Intercontinental Airport. "The technical knowledge we gain today
will contribute to a wider understanding of the future for
transportation fuels."
"It all went according to plan," airline spokesman David Messing
told Bloomberg after Flight 516 landed back at IAH at around 1:45
pm CST. "The initial observations are that there's no difference in
terms of the performance of the airplane."
The biofuel blend included components derived from algae and
jatropha plants. Continental says both are "sustainable,
second-generation sources that do not impact food crops or water
resources or contribute to deforestation."
The algae oil was provided by Sapphire Energy, and the jatropha
oil came from Terasol Energy. In line with prior biofuel
demonstration flights conducted by the likes of Virgin Atlantic and
Air New Zealand, the flight was conducted under an Experimental
rating, and carried no passengers.
The flight operated with 50/50 biofuel blend, consisting of a
roughly equal mix of biologically-derived fuel and traditional jet
fuel, in the Number 2 engine.
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