Air New Zealand due to take off on biofuel test
24 Dec 2008
The world's first commercial aviation test flight powered by a sustainable second-generation biofuel will take off from Auckland airport next Tuesday (30 December 2008).
An Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400 will spend two hours over the Hauraki Gulf (just east of Auckland) testing a 50-50 blend of standard Jet A1 fuel and synthetic kerosene derived from jatropha oil on one of four engines.
Various procedures will be carried out during the test flight to measure the performance of the engine, the airline said.
The jatropha oil has been sourced from the African countries of Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, and from India from seeds the airline says have been grown on environmentally sustainable farms.
The flight is a joint initiative between Air New Zealand, Boeing, Rolls-Royce and UOP, a Honeywell company, as part of commercial aviation's drive for more sustainable air travel.
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