JUN 22

Air New Zealand recently released the scientific findings from the jatropha-fueled test flight they conducted in late December 2008.  The flight resulted in a 60-65 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the jatropha-jet fuel blend compared to traditional jet fuel flights.

The biofuel was responsible for a 1.2 percent savings in fuel over the 12-hour flight, which equaled 1.43 tonnes of fuel.  Scientists also estimate that the decrease in fuel consumption saved around 4.5 tonnes of CO2 emissions.  The biofuel used was a 50/50 blend of jatropha and Jet A1 fuel.

These findings make the test flight and the jatropha blend a huge success, but now there are lots of questions to be answered regarding the production of jatropha-based fuels.  Jatropha has, until recently, been considered a great source for biofuel because it could be grown on non-arable land and required little maintenance or water.  This is true of the plant in typical situations, but reports coming out of India show that jatropha crops need attention, water and fertilizer like any other crops in order to yield large quantities, like that necessary for biofuel production.  Now that we know that it's use as a jet fuel is very promising, more research will have to be done to determine how it can be sustainably produced.

via Air New Zealand and Treehugger

Comments (11)

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written by Luis, June 22, 2009

You'll kindly forgive me the ignorance, but how come a 1.2% reduction in fuel consumption translates into 55-60% greenhouse gas emissions? Is that relation so highly non-linear?

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written by Luis, June 22, 2009

55-60% greenhouse gas emission savings I meant, sorry

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My guess
written by shek, June 23, 2009

is that the 1.2% reduction in fuel indicates that the plane required less fuel for it's flight, while the 55-60% reduction in greenhouse gases is if they ignore the emissionis due to the fuel from jatropha (which I guess they consider carbon-neutral). The article could certainly use some clarification.

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written by campbell, June 23, 2009

SOLAR flight!

www.turtleairships.com

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written by Luis, June 23, 2009

Thanks shek for the attempt, I think it is likely, but nevertheless, like you said, perhaps Hank could re-phrase the info a little bit clearer.

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Math?
written by Carl Hage, June 23, 2009

I think the question was, how do you get 60-65% CO2 reduction from 50% biofuel? If there is a 1.2% reduction in fuel, and there is no CO2 associated with the jatropha oil, then you would expect 50.6% reduction! I think they mean B100 is 60-65% less CO2, so the B50 blend is 30-33% less CO2.

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written by EV, June 23, 2009

If the Jatropha has a higher energy density than JP5, then the CO2 savings would come from the increased amount of energy in the Jatropha. i.e., each ton of jatropha replaces 1.2 tons of JP5. The 1.2% reduction in fuel is measured solely by weight, not by energy measurement, so it is difficult to tell. Additionally, the jatropha could move the engines into a more efficient burn of fuel.

The short of it is, there are too many factors here that could contribute to a reduction in JP5 usage.

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Jatopha curcas
written by Mano, June 25, 2009

Jatropha oil need to come from quality Plantations,fundamentally thru known researched materials.Govt Instituitions and Private establishments in India like Labland have come out with commercial Tissue culture Jatropha which can support such programmes.
mano

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written by Fred, July 07, 2009

Hopefully Air New Zealand will impact other airlines

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written by ghd hair straightener, September 03, 2009

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classic tall
written by classic tall, November 21, 2009

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