In late October, Boeing announced that they would be phasing in biofuel blends within the next three to five years. At the time, there wasn't much information about what type of biofuel they'd be using or when they'd be conducting a large scale test. In a press release yesterday from UOP, it was revealed that the company would be participating in a test flight scheduled for December 3 in partnership with Air New Zealand, Boeing and Rolls Royce.
The 747-400 jet will take off from Auckland and will run on a 50/50 blend of Jet A-1 fuel and a synthetic paraffinic kerosene derived from jatropha that was developed by UOP. Rolls Royce conducted engine tests with the blended fuel and found that it met all specifications for jet fuel.
Jatropha is a plant that produces seeds that contain an inedible oil that can be extracted to make fuel. The plant oil for this test flight was sourced from non-arable lands in India, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
More flight details are supposed to be released closer to December 3, but it's interesting that Boeing previously indicated that they'd be using 30 percent biofuel blends, but this test will be performed with a 50 percent blend. It's encouraging that they were able to find a larger percentage blend that performed just as well.
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