Virgin will use biodiesel in test flight
Posted by Xeni Jardin, February 4, 2008 10:59 PM
A Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 will become the first commercial aircraft to fly on biofuel, later this month, in an historic flight from London to Amsterdam.

Although no passengers will be on board, the contents of the plane's gas tank will have everyone in the airline industry watching. (...) Airline industry officials, environmentalists and energy companies all have a huge interest in the future of air travel as it pertains to fuel consumption, carbon emissions and global warming.

From the business perspective, the airlines are under great financial pressure because of soaring fuel costs; the price of crude oil is consistently flirting with $100 per barrel. On the environmental side of things, aircraft represent up to 12 percent of greenhouse gas emissions produced by the U.S. transportation sector, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Additionally, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, greenhouse gas emissions from domestic aircraft are expected to increase 60 percent by 2025. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that increases in air transportation over the next 50 years will result in a threefold increase in aircraft CO{-2} emissions and a 13 percent increase in ozone.

And another view of same subject

A Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 will make a historic flight later this month from London's Heathrow Airport to Amsterdam.

Although no passengers will be on board, the contents of the plane's fuel tanks will have everyone in the airline industry watching.

The trip will be the first time a commercial aircraft has flown on biofuel.

Airline industry officials, environmentalists and energy companies all have a huge interest in the future of air travel as it pertains to fuel consumption, carbon emissions and global warming.

From the business perspective, the airlines are under great financial pressure because of soaring fuel costs; the price of crude oil is consistently flirting with $100 per barrel. On the environmental side of things, aircraft represent up to 12 percent of greenhouse gas emissions produced by the U.S. transportation sector, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Additionally, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, greenhouse gas emissions from domestic aircraft are expected to increase 60 percent by 2025. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that increases in air transportation over the next 50 years will result in a threefold increase in aircraft CO{-2} emissions and a 13 percent increase in ozone.

Environmental advocates say that the Virgin test flight has the potential to be a crucial benchmark in the industry's efforts to develop a biofuel that would help eliminate the industry's dependence on jet fuel and help reduce global carbon emissions.

Sir Richard Branson, the charismatic founder of Virgin Atlantic who also pioneered the discount carrier Virgin America based in Burlingame, announced the biofuel experiment in 2007, and analysts said it could be feasible by the end of 2008. Virgin said last week it is about 10 months ahead of the anticipated date.

"This breakthrough will help Virgin Atlantic fly its planes using clean fuel sooner than expected," Branson said in a statement. "The demonstration flight will give us crucial knowledge that we can use to dramatically reduce our carbon footprint."

To get it done, Virgin Atlantic is teaming with Boeing and GE Aviation, maker of the engines that power the airplane. The airline said the GE Aviation CF6 engines used during the flight will not require modifications to burn biofuel, nor will the biofuel have negative effects on the engines.

The fuel used in the flight will be a blend of 80 percent conventional jet fuel, which is essentially kerosene, and 20 percent biofuel. Although the exact type of biofuel to be used has not been disclosed, the airline said it is a form that does not compete with food and freshwater resources.

Branson did note that Virgin Atlantic's British parent company, Virgin Group, pledged to invest all profits from its transportation companies toward developing clean energy, "and with this breakthrough, we are well down the path to achieving our goals."

Jet aircraft use a petroleum-based fuel generally referred to as Jet A or Jet A-1. For the sake of safety, commercial jet fuel must meet technical and operational specifications.

In the United States, all aircraft engines must be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration for use, and FAA approval is specific to the fuel that is used with each particular aircraft engine and engine type. So, as it stands, no other type of fuel can currently be used in America, according to the Air Transport Association, the trade association for the nation's major airlines.

In other words, it will be years before alternative fuels can replace commercial jet fuel.

"There will be extensive testing before this reaches the commercial market," said former industry executive Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst with Forrester Research in San Francisco.

Harteveldt added that, despite the fact that Virgin Atlantic, Boeing and GE "have lent a lot of credibility" to the matter, there is some cynicism afoot. "People are saying, 'How real is this?' "

In September, Boeing, Air New Zealand and Rolls-Royce announced an agreement to conduct a biofuel demonstration flight in the second half of 2008. That flight, too, will be of a Boeing 747-400 equipped with Rolls-Royce engines.

The search for an alternative to present-day jet fuel extends beyond the commercial airline industry.

On Dec. 17, the 104th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first powered flight, the Air Force said it flew an aircraft for the first time ever coast to coast using a synthetic fuel blend.

A C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft took off from McChord Air Force Base in Washington State, with its four Pratt and Whitney F117-100 turbofan engines burning a mix of 50 percent traditional jet propulsion-8 aviation fuel and 50 percent Fischer-Tropsch Kerosene, a synthetic aviation fuel derived from natural gas. It is produced in a process called the Fischer-Tropsch method, which is named after the German chemists who invented it in the 1920s, Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch.

Hours later, the aircraft touched down at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. Officials said the flight was without incident.

Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said, "I have established the goal of having the entire (Air Force) fleet certified to fly on a synthetic fuel blend by about 2011."

That would go a long way toward reducing U.S. dependence on foreign sources of energy, Wynne said, because the conversion process can convert many types of carbon-based materials, such as coal, of which the United States has an abundant supply, to synthetic aviation fuel.

Environmentalists object to that idea, said Deron Lovaas, transportation analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, D.C., because "it is the path of least resistance to make synthetic fuel from other fossil fuels."

Lovaas and others argue that liquid coal - coal that has been converted to liquid fuel - releases almost double the global warming emissions per gallon as regular gasoline. The preferred path is toward something sustainable, he said.

Lovaas said of the Virgin Atlantic test, "Here we are with this futuristic experiment with a source of biofuel. What Branson and the others are doing deserve our praise."

Meanwhile, California Attorney General Jerry Brown, four other states and three environmental groups filed petitions in December with the Environmental Protection Agency saying it should curb carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted from airplanes, arguing it has a mandate under the Clean Air Act to set emission standards for aircraft.

"Global warming is such a big challenge that wherever we can reduce greenhouse gases, we must do so. The EPA has abdicated its responsibility in this area for years, and it won't do its job until it's legally required to do so," Brown said.

The agency has 180 days in which to respond to the petitions, dated Dec. 5.