Virgin Atlantic to Fly a 747 Using Biofuel
28.01.2008
Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., the British carrier, will begin to fly a plane fuelled with biofuel. Virgin will be the first in commercial airline to used biofuels instead of the usual kerosene.
The airline will operate one of its Boeing 747s from London Heathrow to Amsterdam, Netherlands, next month using the alternative fuel. The passenger less test flight is part of a joint project involving both the airplane manufacturer The Boeing Co. and engine producer General Electric Co.
The announcement is particularly timely as oil passes $90 a barrel and as aviation is increasingly blamed for contributing to global warming. Biofuel contains plant material and burns cleaner than traditional jet fuel.
"Flying our 747 on biofuel 10 months earlier than planned is a major breakthrough," Branson said. "The flight will give our engineers and those at Boeing and GE vital learnings for the passenger flights of the future."
Manufacturers such as Fairfield, Conn.-based General Electric and London-based Rolls-Royce Group Plc, the world's two largest jet engine manufacturers, are increasing fuel efficiency as they test biofuels that reduce carbon emissions.
There have significant improvements in fuel efficiency over the past 40 years. Airliners now burn roughly 4 liters of fuel a passenger per 100 kilometers flown, about the same average as cars, according to Boeing.
Still, the aviation industry accounts for 1.6 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the European Environmental Agency. Airliner emissions are expected to increase by 3 percent annually through 2015, the agency says.
