Passenger Jet Does Two Hour Journey on Veggie Oil!
Filed under: Inspiration
Cool break for biotechnology!
On Tuesday, an Air New Zealand airplane successfully completed a flight that used a hybrid veggie oil fuel.
This biofuel could lower airplane emissions and cut costs, according to airline reps.
One engine of a Boeing 747-400 airplane was powered by a 50-50 blend of oil from jatropha plants and standard A1 jet fuel.
There's been a real push this year for alternative fuels by airlines, which were slammed by super high oil costs earlier in the year.
Coupled with the massive economic crisis at hand it's not surprising that cost-saving innovations are being embraced.
An Air New Zealand rep couldn't say if the veggie oil blend would be cheaper than standard jet fuel, since jatropha is not yet produced on a commercial scale.
Biofuels were once dismissed for use in aviation because most freeze at the low temperatures up in the skies.
But this new test shows jatropha, whose seeds yield an oil already used to produce fuels like biodiesel, has an even lower freezing point than jet fuel.
Air New Zealand Chief Executive Rob Fyfe said to the media, "Today we stand at the earliest stages of sustainable fuel development and an important moment in aviation history."
The company has also stated that their goal is to become the world's most environmentally sustainable airline.
We hope they reach that goal and that the others follow suit!
[Image via AP Images.]
If they invent one that runs on farts, you and Rosie O'Fat can fly free for life.
OH SNAP BITCHES! FIRST!!!!
Sarahjay, you failed again gurl!
that's fucking awesome!!!
Wesson/Mazola Air!
To be fair. Virgin Atlantic Airways, was the first airliner, earlier this year…to power one of four engines on a 747-400 with bio fuel as a test!
Air New Zealand is also a great airline!
Throw some fries in that baby & we could have a parrrrty!
i want a wind turbine!!……mama's days as a prisoner to the grid…..are numbered……..wootwoot
And the celebrity aspect of this news tidbit is what??
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how exciting!
Go New Zealand…land of kiwi ingenuity : 0
Vegetable prices will skyrocket!!
freaking awesome!
Re: vintage_goddess – #13.
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HELLO DARLING! LG HERE!
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Re: JoeyB – #15.
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YES DARLING THEY'LL BE SELLING THEM BY THE CARROT!!!
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Re: harrybalsac – you make me hot when you cry FIRST!!!!
Yus! Go NZ!
"This plane's got a certain…Wesson-ality!"
Love for NZ!!!!
What's the big deal? My husband used natural gas to fly years ago!
To be honest, I'm not going for the whole "bio fuel" thing. I just don't think it's any kind of real option. There simply isn't enough land space to support crops grown for food AND for fuel.
The best bet would be simply to get as many homes and businesses as possible to switch to solar power by having the panels installed on the roofs. That way less fossil fuels will be burned to generate electricity and that fuel could then be used for vehicles until they can develop some kind of engine that would not need to be using any kind of fuel at all. Or maybe they can design a car that would run on solar power? For now the hybrid/electric cars at least use less fuel.
Do you have any idea how much energy it takes to create biofuel? Between growing and fertalizing the crops it is huge.
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this is antother smoke screen that doesn't do anything.
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Don't beleive all this stupid 'man made global warming' bull shit.
There's just not enough land for food and fuel. If we started to use bio fuel, we'd have a good crisis again, things would get worse.
Not every sustainable.
I agree with Alisa Chan.
And I don't know what else I should say, Perez, do you really know about this stuff? Do you even care? :/
Alisa Chan and JoeyB - I hear they are doing biofuels now that just use certain parts of corn that are not used for food. Also, Algae and Willow trees are being used to produce biofuels.
I agree Alisa, you need to question everything and wade your way through the pachouli scented bullshit and figure out who is saying what and what is motivating them.
I wonder if the 50/50 blend is less flammable with a heavy impact. That would be the really cool part in my opinion.
I love Air NZ, they are a great company. In fact, I just loved NZ, and wish all countries could take more examples from them and their environmentally conscious ways.
im already terrified of flying…now i can add the thought in my head that the plane i am sitting in is running on veggie oil while i am 30,000 ft above the ocean
Re: atleast6charactters – He cared about it enough to post it, even though people give him crap for posting news that is not celebrity related.
A big hug from Brussels,Belgium to everyone!!
As a flight attendant,i can only say "bravo" for this big step ahead! I only hope that most of the major airlines will follow this initiative!!
this is awesome news and going on my blog!
Freshkids.wordpress.com
Biofuel is not the answer. There's millions of people starving in the world - don't use wheat for fuel.
Electricity/Hydrogen fuel is the answer.
Smart idea using food for fuel….oh wait there isn't enough food to do both…Oh wait we will just plow under forests to plant corn etc for fuel…..Al Gore will support because now he makes millions from it through his investments. wake up people this is stupid
LeonA'$ GHO$t:
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WHY DO YOU
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POSTING LIKE THIS?
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DO YOU THINK ITS SUSPENSEFUL?
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ARE YOU TRYING TO BE ALL DRAMATIC LIKE A SLAM POET?
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CUZ ITS STILL
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ANNOYING AS HELL
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AND WHY MUST YOU POST 3 TIMES
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Perez
I am from New Zealand and I just love when you post stuff about our little country.
BTW come and visit us down under!
"biofuel" is discussed a bit controvery meantime in my country. For a lot of landscape is used up and destroyed for animals to live in when plants used for producing oil are cultivated and planted there…..The living space of birds and other wild animals is being destroyed if MORE bio fuel plantations are established….So bio fuel is NOT automatically "good" for the environment!
Cut down your airline travels and use TRAINS - that s ost environmentally friendly!
Re: Alisa-Chan –
Alisa-Chamn, that s what I think too. In Germany, even in the most remote rural area and very very small villages in Bavaria most of the houses have solar modules ont heir roofs. Apart from that, wind energy near costs especially can be used as well for producing energy. And earth warmth.
These are the three alternatives most environmentally friendly and are not at all or very little destroying to the land….
Re: Shakermaker –
Shakermaker, for huge amounts of elecricity you d mayxbe need nuclear power plants, so that s NOT an alternative.
FIRST step should eb for everyone to REDUCE their energy and water and electricity consumption by omitting unnecessary travels by air and using trains instead, e.g. - by buying low-energy-consuming household appliances, a.s.o. however, the U.S. people up to now have entirely FAILED in DOWNSIZING their consumption in EVERYTHING …..it s destroying the planet.
yeah lets hike up the price of cooking oil.. that's what will happen if it becomes a fuel! and as for these hydrogen powered cars.. how do people think the hydrogen is produced?? is it just caught in a little net??… erm… no.. it is extracted by burning fossil fuel!!! honestly fooking ridiculous "SOLUTIONS!"
when will retards stop looking at things so simply??! If the government were that concerned about the environment they would STOP drilling for oil.
If environmentalists actually bothered to research beyond scare tactics in the media they would realise that the earth's climate is repeating the same patterns in has been doing for countless millenia