Japanese have been know to be a bit of a pioneers when it comes to getting the wacky technological things up and running and it is not much of a surprise then that they decided to clean up the air up there by trying to make Japan Airlines planes run on cellulosic biofuel. If everything works to the plan then very soon we will have wings powered by biofuel and for those looking for a reason to cringe and complain there are none here. This second generation bio-fuel is not generated from food crops and hence that whole argument about having food to eat is out of the window for now.
Tokyo-based Japan Airlines announced that it’s planning a demonstration flight using second generation biofuel, which would be the first such demonstration by an Asian carrier. The company said it would work with Chicago’s Boeing and East Hartford, Conn.-based Pratt & Whitney on the biofuel flight. We already had Virgin airlines testing biofuel and Continental airlines planning a test in the future. Flights from New Zealand Airlines have also tried the same and it seems that the aviation industry is doing all it can to stay in the sky and make it green!
While the detractors immediately point out the fact that it is more out of economic than ecological reasons that this is happening, it still is a welcome change and will eventually lead us to a clean and sustainable future. Japan Airlines said the cellulosic biofuel for its flight would be blended with jet fuel and tested in one of the four engines of a Japan Airlines Boeing 747-300 aircraft equipped with Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines. Let’s just hope for the best.
