Success for Air NZ biofuel test flight
05 Jan 2009
A two-hour test flight in New Zealand skies has been hailed as a "significant milestone" in the development of sustainable air fuels.
While most of New Zealand was enjoying the traditional Christmas - New Year summer holiday break at the beach, an Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400 was in the air above Auckland's Hauraki Gulf testing a new second generation biofuel mix made from sustainable jatropha oil.
The December 30 flight from Auckland airport used a 50:50 blend of standard jet fuel and jatropha oil in one of the plane's four engines while testing engine and fuel system performance in different operating conditions and at varying altitudes.
Biofuel tests
The jatropha biofuel performed well in a range of tests both on the ground and in the air, according to Air NZ chief pilot Captain David Morgan.
Further analysis would be conducted as the airline continued to work towards having jatropha certified as an aviation fuel, he said.
Significant milestone
Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe said completion of the flight - a joint initiative between the airline, Boeing, Rolls-Royce and Honeywell's UOP - was a significant milestone.
"It is Air New Zealand's long-term goal to become the world's most environmentally sustainable airline and we have today made further significant progress towards this," Mr Fyfe said.
"Air New Zealanders are passionate about making a difference to the environment and as a result we have become a world leader in examining every aspect of our flight operations to reduce fuel consumption and our carbon emissions."
"We stand at the earliest stages of sustainable fuel development and it is exciting to be a part of this important moment in aviation history."
Jatropha oil
Jatropha - a weedy African bush that produces inedible oily seeds - was sourced from environmentally sustainable farms in south eastern Africa (Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania) and India.
It was selected because it is not a food crop and can be grown on land unsuitable for food production.
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