Continental Airlines Inc. has announced it will test the use of a biofuel blend to power one of its jetliners. The flight, departing from Houston, Texas, is scheduled for January 7 making it the first commercial carrier to use algae as a fuel source. The two-engine Boeing 737-800 aircraft will use a special blend of conventional fuel and biofuel with ingredients derived from algae and jatropha.
The test flight will be operated by Continental test pilots who plan to run one engine on the biofuel blend testing it through power accelerations, slowdowns, in-flight engine shutdown, restart, and other flight techniques. Continental said it expects a post-flight analysis that will show that biofuels is a viable substitute without loss of performance or safety.
Some fuels such as hydrogen lack the acceleration of traditional kerosene-based jet fuel and would require planes to be outfitted with massive fuel tanks.
Airlines in South Africa use a coal-based fuel blend developed by petrochemicals group Sasol that doesn’t require altering aircraft engines or other parts. On February 24, Virgin Atlantic flew a Heathrow, London to Schipol, Amsterdam flight partially powered with a Biofuel derived from a mixture of Brazilian babassu nuts and coconuts. Air New Zealand is testing jatropha fuel in a 747 jetliner.
Several U.S. companies are developing synthetic fuels, including American Clean Coal Fuels of Portland, Ore., Baard Energy in Vancouver, Wash., and Rentech Inc. of Los Angeles.
