AviationGeeks.com - Lufthansa launches the first scheduled biofuel powered flights

Photo by Andreas Kauert

Several airlines have been experimenting with alternative fuels for its aircrafts. Boeing has been working with 4 other airlines to test biofuel on its fleet. Boeing has been using different mixture with each of the airlines. Air New Zealand used a jatropha biofuel blend; Continental Airlines was using a blend of algae- and jatropha based biofuel; Japan Airlines was using an algae-, jatropha- and camelina based biofuel blend and Virgin Atlantic was using a coconut- and babassu based biofuel blend. Airbus linked up with the Brazilian airline TAM to perform a test flight earlier this year on its Airbus A320. But until now, there haven´t been any scheduled biofuel powered flights.

The biofuel that Lufthansa will be using comes from Finnish oil refining company, Neste Oil. Neste Oil is a member of RSB (Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels) and RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) which aim at creating more sustainable fuel for all industries. The oil comes from crops that are grown in sustainable conditions that won’t compete with food crops or forests for land and water. The biofuel will be a 50-50 mixture of biofuel and regular jet fuel and will be 3 to 5 times more expensive than the regular jet fuel.

Lufthansa estimates that the project, BurnFAIR, will cost about 9 million Euros. Lufthansa will invest 6.6 million Euros (8.7 million dollars) during the 6 months that the project will last, and the government will invest 2.5 million Euros ($3.3 million). Lufthansa expects to reduce CO2 emission by about 1,500 pounds (680 kg) during these 6 months.

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