Boeing and Air New Zealand have announced that they will conduct the first flight test of second generation sustainable biofuel in an airliner on 3 December.
The planned test will be carried out using an Air New Zealand Boeing 747 flying from Auckland, New Zealand. During the flight, one of the jumbo jet's four Rolls-Royce engines will run partly on jatropha-based biofuel.
Successful biofuelled airliner tests have already been made using first generation fuels made from plants grown on existing cropland.
Process technology from UOP, a Honeywell company, was used to convert second-generation, renewable feedstocks to green jet fuel for the flight.
UOP collaborated with Air New Zealand, Boeing and Rolls-Royce to produce and test renewable jet fuel made from the oil of jatropha plants.
The green jet fuel will be mixed 50/50 with Jet A1 and will power one of the Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400's Rolls-Royce engines RB211 engines.
Jatropha, an inedible plant can grow in conditions where other food crops cannot, is considered a sustainable, second-generation resource because its cultivation and harvesting do not tax valuable food, land or water resources, and can provide socioeconomic benefit to the regions where it is grown.
