Boeing became the first airplane maker to successfully
complete flying using green diesel, a fuel blend of oils and fats already used
in trucks and other ground transportation.
The Chicago based airplane maker said it used the
fuel to power a 787 Dreamliner test airplane on Tuesday, using a blend of 15
percent green diesel and 85 percent petroleum jet fuel in the left engine.
Boeing officials have said the use of green diesel
for jets is a "major breakthrough" in the industry's quest to wean
itself off fossil fuels and reduce harmful emissions.
The goal is to get the fuel approved for use in
commercial aviation. Sustainable green diesel, chemically different than
biodiesel, is made from vegetable oils, waste cooking oil and waste animal
fats.
Unlike some other alternative fuels, green diesel
already is being produced on a relatively large scale and with current
government subsidies approaches the price of traditional jet fuel, called
Jet-A, Boeing said.
Green diesel produces half the carbon emissions of
fossil fuels. And it would allow airlines, cargo carriers and the military, for
example, to use the same alternative fuel blend in their trucks and planes.
If approved, the fuel could be blended directly with
traditional jet fuel in a ratio of up to 50 percent without modifications to
aircraft engines. Commercial aviation and the U.S. military consume 20 billion
gallons of jet fuel per year.
The aviation industry has proved in tests that it
can fly airplanes safely and efficiently on fuels made from cornhusks, algae or
many sources other than crude oil. But adoption of biofuels to fly jets
ultimately comes down to economics.
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