Boeing 787 ecoDemonstrator has completed the world's first flight using "green diesel," a sustainable biofuel that is wi...
Boeing 787 ecoDemonstrator has completed the world's first flight using "green diesel," a sustainable biofuel that is widely available and used in ground transportation.
The ecoDemonstrator flight test airplane flew yesterday with a blend of 15 percent green diesel and 85 percent petroleum jet fuel in the left engine.
"The airplane performed as designed with the green diesel blend, just as it does with conventional jet fuel," said Capt. Mike Carriker, Chief Pilot, Product Development and 777X, Boeing Test and Evaluation. "This is exactly what we want to see in flight tests with a new type of fuel."
Sustainable green diesel is made from vegetable oils, waste cooking oil and waste animal fats. Boeing previously found that this fuel is chemically similar to HEFA (hydro-processed esters and fatty acids) aviation biofuel approved in 2011. Green diesel is chemically distinct and a different fuel product than "biodiesel," which also is used in ground transportation.
With production capacity of 800 million gallons (3 billion liters) in the U.S.,Europe and Asia, green diesel could rapidly supply as much as 1 percent of global jet fuel demand. With a wholesale cost of about$3per gallon, inclusive of U.S. government incentives, green diesel approaches price parity with petroleum jet fuel.
Green diesel is among more than 25 new technologies being tested by Boeing's ecoDemonstrator Program aboard 787 Dreamliner ZA004. The program accelerates the testing, refinement, and use of new technologies and methods that can improve aviation's environmental performance.
On a lifecycle basis, sustainably produced green diesel reduces carbon emissions by 50 to 90 percent compared to fossil fuel, according toFinland-based Neste Oil, which supplied green diesel for the ecoDemonstrator 787. The flight test was coordinated with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney, and EPIC Aviation blended the fuel.
