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Japan Airlines hopes to be using biofuels in next five years

A Japan Airlines (JAL) Boeing 747-300 aircraft took off from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport late last week powered by a second-generation biofuel blend that the airline says it could be using within 3-5 years.

The 50:50 biofuel-kerosene blend supplied one of the aircraft’s four Pratt & Whitney’s JT9D engines during a one-and-a-half-hour test flight. The fuel blend is a ‘drop-in’ replacement, which requires no engine modification.

The biofuel component, produced by UOP in the US, was based on camelina (84%), jatropha (<16%) and algae (<1%) feedstocks provided by Sustainable Oils, Terasol Energy and Sapphire Energy, respectively.

According to pilot Keiji Kobayashi the test flight went smoothly.

“There was no difference at all in the performance of the engine powered by the biofuel blend, and the other three engines containing regular jet fuel,” he said.

The flight test data on the ‘drop-in’ replacement fuel, which requires no engine alternations, will now be analysed by Boeing, Japan Airlines, and Pratt & Whitney.

JAL CEO and president Haruka Nishimatsu says he wants the airline to be one of the first to use biofuels to power commercial flights.

“We are hopeful that within the next 3-5 years, commercial aircraft will begin flying revenue passenger flights using sustainable next-generation biofuels,” he commented.

There are hurdles to the adoption of biofuels, he added, including getting the support of regulators and fuel distributors, as well as sufficient levels of production of sustainable fuels.

However, according to the CEO of Sustainable Oils, Tom Todaro, it is possible to produce 100-200 million gallons of camelina-based biofuel within five years.

“This technology can be utilized to begin making an impact on the aviation fuel supply in as little as three years,” claims Jennifer Holmgren of UOP.

Camelina – or gold-of-pleasure or false flax – is a sustainable crop, which can be widely grown in moderate climates in the US, Canada, Northern Europe and Asia in rotation with cereal crops.

Jatropha is also a sustainable crop, which flourishes in arid climates in Africa and Asia, and was used in recent biofuel test flights by Air New Zealand and Continental.

For further information:
www.jal.com/en/
www.boeing.com
www.pw.utc.com
www.uop.com
www.susoils.com
www.terasolenergy.com/
www.sapphireenergy.com/

03 February 2009

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