On A Wing, A Prayer... And Pond Scum

On Wednesday, Continental Airlines demonstrated the use of sustainable biofuel to power a commercial aircraft for the first time ever in North America. The demonstration flight -- conducted in partnership with Boeing, GE Aviation/CFM International, and Honeywell's UOP -- also marked the first sustainable biofuel demonstration flight by a commercial carrier using a two-engine aircraft, a Boeing 737-800 equipped with CFM International CFM56-7B engines.

"This demonstration flight represents another step in Continental's ongoing commitment to fuel efficiency and environmental responsibility," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Larry Kellner before the 90-minute flight departed Houston Intercontinental Airport. "The technical knowledge we gain today will contribute to a wider understanding of the future for transportation fuels."

"It all went according to plan," airline spokesman David Messing told Bloomberg after Flight 516 landed back at IAH at around 1:45 pm CST. "The initial observations are that there's no difference in terms of the performance of the airplane."

The biofuel blend included components derived from algae and jatropha plants. Continental says both are "sustainable, second-generation sources that do not impact food crops or water resources or contribute to deforestation."

The algae oil was provided by Sapphire Energy, and the jatropha oil came from Terasol Energy. In line with prior biofuel demonstration flights conducted by the likes of Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand, the flight was conducted under an Experimental rating, and carried no passengers.

The flight operated with 50/50 biofuel blend, consisting of a roughly equal mix of biologically-derived fuel and traditional jet fuel, in the Number 2 engine.

FMI: www.continental.com