London, Feb. 24:

Virgin Atlantic operated its first flight using bio-fuel on Sunday. The Boeing 747-400 aircraft flew from London Heathrow to Amsterdam. There were no passengers on board the demonstration flight.

Addressing the media before the flight took off, the President of Virgin Atlantic, Sir Richard Branson, said no modifications were made to either the aircraft or the engines for the flight to be operated.

Sir Richard said it was still a few years before such fuel can be used for commercial flights.

The results of the flight will be shared with other airlines seeking to cut carbon emissions in the rest of the industry. The test flight was undertaken by Virgin Atlantic in partnership with Boeing GE Aviation and Imperium renewables.

The total fuel used for the demonstration flight was 22,000 kg of which 5,500 kg of bio fuel blend was used. The bio-fuel was made from a blend of coconut oil from the Philippines and babassu oil from Brazil. Neither of these feedstock competes with staple food supplies nor causes deforestation.

Taken from Business Line

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