Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) Wednesday announced that the biofuel blend tested in January demonstration flight performed as well as or better than traditional jet fuel.
The blend resulted in an approximately 1.1% increase in fuel
efficiency over traditional jet fuel in different stages of the
demonstration flight, the airline said.
The demonstration flight was conducted in partnership with Boeing
(NYSE: BA), GE Aviation/CFM International, and Honeywell’s UOP (NYSE:
HON).
Continental said overall life cycle greenhouse gas emissions
related to using the biofuel are estimated to be reduced by 60% to 80%
as compared to traditional jet fuel.
The biofuel blend included components derived from algae and jatropha
plants. The algae
oil was provided by Sapphire Energy, and the jatropha oil by Terasol
Energy.
"We are pleased with the successful results of Continental’s
biofuel demonstration flight," said Leah Raney, Continental’s managing
director of global environmental affairs. "We look forward to working
with our partners as biofuels go through the certification process, and
we hope to see these fuels produced in commercial quantities in the
near future."
The Continental flight was the first biofuel demonstration
flight by a commercial carrier in North America, the first sustainable
biofuel demonstration flight by a commercial carrier using a two-engine
aircraft, and the first biofuel demonstration flight by a commercial
carrier using fuel partially derived from algae.
During the approximately 90-minute flight, Continental test
pilots successfully engaged the aircraft, a Boeing 737-800 equipped
with CFM International CFM56-7B engines, in a number of flight
maneuvers, such as mid-flight engine shutdown and re-start, and power
accelerations and decelerations.
The aircraft’s No. 2 engine operated with a biofuel blend
consisting of 50% biologically-derived fuel and 50% traditional jet
fuel. The aircraft’s No. 1 engine operated on 100% traditional jet
fuel, allowing Continental to compare performance between the biofuel
blend and traditional fuel.
Because the fuel was a "drop-in" fuel, no modifications were
necessary to the aircraft or engine. After inspections, the aircraft
returned to regular revenue service the next day.
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