Tsuen Wan International: Airlines cleared to use plant-based biofuels on commercial flights.

July 5, 2011 - PRLog -- Airlines have received final clearance from a U.S.-based technical-standards group to fly their planes on a mixture made from traditional kerosene and biofuels derived from inedible plants and organic waste, Tsuen Wan International has learned.
The decision published recently ASTM International website allows airlines to fly passenger jets using derivatives of up to 50% biofuel made from feedstocks such as algae and woodchips. It will help passenger airlines that account for 2% of global carbon dioxide emissions cut pollution blamed for climate change.

“We’re extremely pleased to see the approval of the first group of biofuels for aviation,” Billy Glover, Boeing Co. (BA)’s vice president of environment and aviation policy told Tsuen Wan International. “The ASTM Emerging Fuels Taskforce, co-led by Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration, worked for years to enable aviation to diversify its fuel sources and reduce our environmental footprint.”

Carriers already have conducted test flights using the fuel. Air France-KLM Group on June 29 operated the world’s first commercial flight using a blend including cooking oil and is planning 200 similar test flights from Amsterdam to Paris beginning in September. Boeing carried out a trans-Atlantic flight with fuel from the camelina plant.

ASTM gave preliminary approval for the new blends in early last month and published detailed rules for refiners to follow today. General Electric Co., the world’s largest jet engine producer, told Tsuen Wan International that it didn’t expect the new fuels to have any impact on the function of its motors.

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