Long-haul carrier Emirates successfully flew a Boeing 777 on a test flight Jan. 30 with one of its two engines entirely powered by so-called sustainable aviation fuel, according to a report from the Associated Press. Two sustainable fuels were tested during the flight, one from Virent, a Madison-based company, and the other from Neste, a Finnish firm. The second of the plane’s General Electric Co. engines ran on conventional jet fuel for safety.
Virent describes itself as using plant-based sugars to make the compounds needed for sustainable jet fuel, while Neste’s fuel comes from vegetable oils and animal fats. Those fuels reduce the release of heat-trapping carbon dioxide typically burned off by engines in flight.
Airlines have been seeking ways to reduce their carbon footprint in recent years. Aviation releases only one-sixth the amount of carbon dioxide produced by cars and trucks, according to World Resources Institute, a nonprofit research group based in Washington. However, airplanes are used by far fewer people per day — meaning aviation is a higher per-capita source of greenhouse-gas emissions.
Airplane and engine manufacturers have also been designing more-efficient models, in part to help keep down costs of jet fuel — one of the biggest expenses airlines face. But analysts suggest sustainable fuels can be three times or more the cost of jet fuel, likely putting ticket prices even higher.
It wasn’t immediately clear how much the fuel used in the Emirates’ test on Monday cost per barrel.
