Virgin Atlantic Tests Bio-fuels on 747’s
Virgin Atlantic is set to become more environment friendly with their announcement that they will be producing bio-fuels. And with their production of bio-fuels will follow testing them on jumbo jets. First to be tested is Virgin’s Richard Branson’s very own 747.Branson, a British billionaire, also noted that the company will be producing more bio-fuels for more common use : cars, buses, and trains—most probably in the next decade. He said in a conference , “early next year we will fly one of our 747s without passengers with one of the fuels that we have developed”.
As of the moment, Branson’s Virgin company is busy starting to develop biofuels to be used for aircrafts as they partner with GE Aviation and Boeing. The cellulosic ethanol they were using were deemed okay but would freeze everytime it would reach above 15,000 feet. But butanol as better alternative was presented as it is more similar to gasoline, is less corosive, and can be easily made from biomass.
It is important to note that another airline company, Air New Zealand, has also announced their plans of testing biofuels for their flights but looks like Virgin Atlantic will do it way before them. So who’s to take the first flight?