KLM pioneers flight with biofuel

Dutch national flag carrier KLM made history on Monday as the first airline to take passengers on a flight using biofuel.

To power one of the Boeing 747’s four engines, the airline used a mix of 50% regular kerosene and 50% biokerosene to fuel the 1.5 hour test flight that circled the skies over the Netherlands. The plane was carrying about 40 passengers, including some VIPs and reporters.

Other airlines (including Continental, Air New Zealand, and Japan Airlines) have run test flights using biofuels, but without passengers.

Airlines are dinged for their damage to the environment. The Air Transport Association warns that some $22 billion in annual environmental fees likely are coming down the pike for US airlines. And the airlines are facing new pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2012 under the European Union’s cap-and-trade system.

Sounds like the airline industry needs to step on the gas in developing biofuel flights asap.

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Photo by abdallahh, used under a Creative Commons license.