Eco-Aviation Channel

ATW Daily News

ANZ biofuel flight data: 1.2% fuel burn cut, 60%-75% CO2 reduction on 12-hr. 747 flight

Thursday May 28, 2009

Air New Zealand yesterday revealed the results of its Dec. 29 747-400 biofuel test flight at the Eco-Aviation conference presented by ATW and Leeham Co. in Washington, saying that data gathered from the 2-hr. flight show that a 50/50 blend of jatropha-based fuel and standard jet fuel could reduce fuel burn by 1.2% and carbon dioxide emissions by 60%-75% on an average 12-hr. 747 flight.

ANZ earlier had stated that there were no operational problems during the test flight from Auckland that used the fuel blend to power one of the aircraft's Rolls-Royce RB211s (ATWOnline, Jan. 6). But it said its analysis competed last week of scientific data gathered during the flight revealed a performance that was "better than we expected." Extrapolating data from the flight, ANZ believes a 12-hr. 747 flight powered by the fuel blend would yield fuel savings of 1.43 tons and a CO2 emissions reduction of 4.5 tons compared to a similar flight powered today by traditional jet fuel. The test flight was operated in conjunction with Boeing, Rolls-Royce and Honeywell.

Despite the strong results, ANZ GM-Operations and Chief Pilot Dave Morgan cautioned that there is no imminent "silver bullet" regarding biofuel and that there may be too much "hype." He explained to ATWOnline that the test flight was just part of a long process: "The reason we did the flight was to make a contribution to the database in order to [make progress toward getting] this fuel certified. In the short term, it's really about getting a second-generation biofuel certified. In the long term, we believe it could be a fuel alternative for ANZ."

The airline has a goal of using 10% alternative fuel (covering all fuel needs, including ground operations) by 2013. Morgan said jatropha may not be the most ideal feedstock for ANZ because it cannot grow in New Zealand.

Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative Executive Director Richard Altman told the Eco-Aviation conference that developing sustainable feedstocks for biofuels is critical but warned that serious challenges lie ahead. "We need investors," he said, adding: "What's it going to take to get a farmer to plant camelina instead of what he's planting now?. . .We need to develop an entirely new fuel dynamic."

Altman said much of the "hype" about biofuels is well-founded. "The expectations may be too high for certain feedstocks, but in terms of moving to biofuel [to power commercial flights], there's not too much hype." Algae, for example, has been called the "Holy Grail" of alternative fuel offerings by Boeing and others, but he cautioned that while it "looks good on paper. . .we really don't know much about it. We don't know what the manufacturing process [for turning it into fuel] is."

by Aaron Karp

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