On February 24 2008, Virgin Atlantic Airlines flew a Boeing 747 from London to Amsterdam with one of the four engines burning a mixture of 80% jet fuel and 20% plant oil. The first commercial airline test of biofuel went without a hitch.
The fuel was produced by Imperium Renewables Inc., a four-year old Seattle manufacturer of biodiesel fuels. The company solved a problem many fuel experts had thought might be insurmountable – making a biofuel for jets that wouldn't freeze in low temperatures at flight altitude. Imperium came up with a process that yield fuel that won't freeze at minus 44 degrees Celsius.
The future for viable biofuels won't likely be coconuts and babassu nuts, whose oil were used for the test, however, because enough oil from those plants, which are both used in cosmetics, can't be produced to power the world airlines.
John Plaza, founder of Imperium, says its technology can make biofuels out of just about any renewable crop, and the substance that may hold the most promise is algae. Sewage treatment plans offer an ample source, and algae-produced fuel wouldn't use up food crops.
Source: WSJ, 26/02/08
