UNITED KINGDOM, January 2009: A US airline has completed the first test flight of a plane partly powered by biofuel derived from algae and jatropha, a plant that can grow successfully in poor soils and marginal land. The 90-minute flight by a Continental Boeing 737-800 went better than expected, a spokesperson said. One of its engines was powered by a 50-50 blend of biofuel and normal aircraft fuel.
Wednesday’s test is the latest in a series of demonstration flights by the aviation industry, which hopes to be using biofuels within five years.
The flight was the first by a US carrier to use an alternative fuel source, and the first in the world to use a twin-engine commercial aircraft (rather than a four-engine plane) to test a biofuel blend.
The flight from Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport completed a circuit over the Gulf of Mexico. “The airplane performed perfectly,” test pilot Rich Jankowski told the Houston Chronicle newspaper.