First commercial biofuel flight cleared for take off next month

The world's first commercial aviation test flight powered by a sustainable second-generation biofuel will take place on 3 December 2008 it was announced this week.

The flight will be powered by a 50:50 blend of standard jet fuel and kerosene derived from jatropha oil.

The fuel will power an Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400 with four Rolls-Royce RB211 engines and will be virtually indistinguishable from conventional jet fuel, according to Chris Lewis, fuel specialist with Rolls-Royce.

"Laboratory testing showed the final blend has excellent properties meeting, and in many cases exceeding, the stringent technical requirements for fuels used in civil and defence aircraft," he said.

Various procedures will be carried out during the test flight to measure the performance of the engine.

The test flight is a joint initiative between Air New Zealand, Boeing, Rolls-Royce and Honeywell subsidiary UOP, and is being heralded as a major step forward in the commercial aviation industry's drive for more sustainable air travel.

The consortium says the jatropha oil used will adhere to three standards that should make it a commercially viable, and yet environmentally sustainable, alternative to conventional jet fuel.

Firstly, it must not compete with food resources; it must be a "drop in" replacement for existing fuels, meaning no adjustments need to be made to the engine; and thirdly it should be cost competitive with existing fuel supplies.

Jatropha oil has been widely touted as a potentially sustainable source of biofuel as unlike many other energy crops, it can be produced on marginal land unsuitable for agricultural production. Consequently, experts claim that its cultivation will not indirectly contribute to deforestation or rising food prices, as is believed to be the case with first generation biofuels.

However, whether enough jatropha oil can ever be harvested to meet the demands of the global aviation industry will remain open to question