| Boeing hydroplane flies on 100% sustainable biofuel |
|
A Boeing U-787 hydroplane made a demonstrations flight powered by 100% sustainable biofuel at Seafair last weekend. The biofuel, developed by Seattle company Targeted Growth, consists of 85% camelina, 14% jatropha and 1% algae oil. The hydroplane engine required no modification to run on the ‘drop-in’ fuel.  The same biofuel mixture was also used in a Japan Airlines Boeing 747-300 test flight earlier this year. According to proponents, Camelina does not displace food crops and can be grown in rotation with wheat or on marginal land. Jatropha has been hailed as a ‘wonder crop’ for biofuels because it can be grown on poor quality, semi-arid marginal or waste land, which would not otherwise be used for food production. “This hydroplane demonstration run is another successful step in our efforts to showcase the potential for sustainable biofuels to reduce emissions from air travel without sacrificing safety, performance and efficiency,” says Mike Garrett of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. A recent report from think tank Policy Exchange claims that wide-scale use of sustainable biofuels would reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the UK and EU aviation sector 15% by 2020 and 60% by 2050. |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
