Nerdy Science Blog

Air New Zealand successfully test fly a jumbo jet, Boeing 747-400, with biofuel for two hours on Tuesday.  The passenger jet took off from Auckland International Airport on Tuesday.  This test flight is a joint venture by Air New Zealand, airplane maker Boeing, engine maker Rolls Royce and biofuel specialist UOP Llc.  This flight biofuel experiment aims to reduce carbon footprint and tackling the problem of rising oil prices.

The biofuel is a 50-50 blend of jatropha oil and standard air jet fuel.  This biofuel is also known as second generation biofuel, which has less emission than traditional biofuel ethanol.  The jatropha nuts for this biofuel were harvested from trees grown in India, Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania.  The fuel was freezing at -47C and burning at 38C.

According to the International Air Transport Association, other plant materials such as grass, algae and salt-tolerant plants called halophytes have been considered to replace traditional fuel.  New technology is also invested to design lighter and air resistance fleets to replace the outdated ones.  Currently air travel contributes 3% of global carbon dioxide emissions.

Air New Zealand hoped to use jatropha oil for 10% of its needs by 2013. Poisonous Central American shrub, Jatropha, was studied by scientists to turn the extracted oil into jet fuel. Tee jatropha oil was significantly cheaper than the skyrocket crude oil. The jatropha oil was estimated $43 per barrel, and there were no side effects of other biofuels (such as deforestation, ethanol production, etc.). The shrub could be grown in difficult environment, as it did not require much water and fertilizer. Jet-engine maker Rolls-Royce will made one of the four engines compatible with jatropha biofuel. Air New Zealand will test flight from fields in southeastern Africa and India.

(news [pic])