(Newswire.net — March 22, 2015) — Biofuel as the substitute, or supplement to conventional petroleum fuels is a growing factor in the modern energy mix. According to Wikipedia, New Zealand and Boeing successfuly conducted a two-hour test flight using a 50–50 mixture of biofuel with Jet A-1 in the number one position Rolls Royce RB-211 engine of 747–400 ZK-NBS.
The first commercial flight powered by cooking oil was performed by KLM in 2011, but only about 1500 flights using biofuel have been made since that time. World-wide there are more than 100,000 commercial flights each day.
Now China could be the first country that introduces biofuel on a regular basis.
China’s largest private carrier Hainan Airlines has successfully completed the first commercial flight in that country powered by fuel derived from discarded cooking oil collected from Chinese restaurants. The 50-50 mixture of cooking oil and conventional Jet A oil manages to reduce carbon emission by as much as 80 percent, officials said.
“As a fast-growing domestic and international carrier, Hainan Airlines is demonstrating our environmental commitment by showing that aviation biofuel can play a safe and effective role in China’s air transport system,” said Pu Ming, vice president of Hainan Airlines, who personally piloted the modified Boeing 737, which carried more than 100 passengers from Shanghai to Beijing, Russia Today reported.
“We thank and congratulate our partners, whose teamwork, vision and commitment to sustainable aviation are helping to improve our industry and our environment for the long term,” said Ian Thomas, president, Boeing representative in China.
Behind the US, China has the world’s second biggest air travel market, and is expected to grow rapidly in years to come. Estimating China’s growing demand, Boeing officials believe that the country will need more than 6,000 new planes – at a cost of more than $800 billion – in the next two decades, which is more than all other countries together ordered last year.
Ordering is one thing, manufacturing and delivering is entirely different matter. According to the QZ.com it will take Boeing more than seven years to make all the 737 passenger jets—the four-door sedan of passenger jets—it has sold, even at its full current production rate of 38 per month. Airbus, meanwhile, makes its single-aisle passenger jet family at a rate of 42 per month;
Boeing and state-owned manufacturer Commercial Airplane Corp. of China have set up a pilot facility that converts about 650 liters of cooking oil into biofuel each day, and say that eventually 1.8 billion liters of biofuel could be produced in the country each year.