A Boeing 747 flies with sustainable fuel

  • Reading Time:3Minutes

Technical support was provided by Boeing and fuel by World Energy. Transport is one the drivers of greenhouse gas emissions, and it is no coincidence that this is an area where a lot of effort is being put into finding greener and more sustainable alternatives to existing solutions.

Apart from land transport, one of the biggest polluters is air travel, where cheap low-cost flights may not be a burden on tourists’ wallets but they are on the planet, but it seems that this is not an area where a breakthrough is long in coming. Rolls-Royce recently flew its Boeing747 on 100 percent sustainable kerosene in a test flight.

There are two schools of thought on the banishment of fossil fuels from transport: electric solutions are currently the most common among four-wheelers, but there are also efforts to green the fuel itself rather than an entirely new powertrain. Next year at Le Mans, a French company will debut fuel made from a by-product of the wine industry and Formula 1 is looking to develop its own sustainable fuel, while Prince Charles’ favourite Aston Martin eats wine and cheese instead of petrol. This is also the trend in aviation – an electric plane that needs to be recharged after a few hundred kilometres would be interesting – and it seems to be working.

Rolls-Royce recently flew a Boeing jumbo jet using 100 per cent sustainable Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The 747 in question, the Trent 1000, was fitted with a turbofan jet engine that ran exclusively on SAF fuel, while the other three RB211 engines were fuelled with conventional kerosene, according to Rolls-Royce.

Technical support was provided by Boeing, while fuel was supplied by world energy. The aircraft departed from Tucson airport in Arizona, flew over New Mexico and Texas, and returned four hours later to the same location. According to Rolls-Royce, no technical problems were encountered during the test flight, proving that SAF is indeed a viable substitute for current jet fuels for commercial purposes.

SAF is made from waste products such as frying oil and animal fat used in restaurants. Rather than ending up in the bin and landfill, these waste materials are used to produce sustainable aviation fuel with 80 per cent lower carbon dioxide emissions. The biofuel also emits 90 percent less particulate matter and contains no sulphur oxide.

At present, aircraft can only operate on up to 50 per cent SAF, which is blended with conventional fuel, but Rolls-Royce says it remains in favour of allowing pure SAF to be used. With this in mind, the company announced last week that all of its Trend engines will be 100 per cent SAF compatible by 2023.

World Energy is the world’s first (and only US) SAF manufacturer, and is currently working to produce enough fuel for commercial sales. The importance of the problem and the benefits of alternative fuel have been recognised by the President of the United States himself, who has announced a new programme to produce 3 billion gallons of fuel by 2030. The initiative is part of a broad aviation action plan to tackle climate change, which will be unveiled in the coming months.

Source: Rolls-Royce

Recent article

EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles

The flying ambulance arrives at lightning speed

EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles

The electric car revolution could continue in the air

EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles

Unmanned aerial taxis flew in a unique formation

Electric airplane News & Articles

NASA’s Innovations: Soaring into an Electrified Flight Future

EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles

Could eVTOLs and Air Taxis Replace Public Transport ?

Additional aircraft News & Articles

The Morphobot: An Innovation in Multimodal Robotics

News & Articles Points of interest

The Dawn of AI Air Travel: Airbus and its Vision for Autonomy

Air taxi News & Articles

Volocopter’s High-Flying Ambitions for the Olympics

News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel

The Horizon of Aviation: Airbus’ Vision for 2035 and Beyond

EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles

A Shift in Aviation Licensing and Training

Drones News & Articles

Russia’s Path to Drone Supremacy

Air taxi News & Articles

Israel’s Pioneering Venture into Drone Transport

Air taxi News & Articles

More efficient air taxis in the future

Air taxi News & Articles

Testing of perhaps the most promising air taxi begins

Additional aircraft News & Articles

Navigating the Future: Autonomous Helicopters Soar High

EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles

Embracing the Future: Seoul’s Leap into Urban Air Mobility
More articles you may be interested in...

Air taxi News & Articles

The Coming Electric Air Taxi Revolution: Competing with Train Tickets ?

The Dutch company, Electron Aviation, is making a bold promise that is set to disrupt.......... READ MORE

News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel

Unveiling the Whisper of Innovation: CycloTech’s Exploration into CycloRotor Noise Levels

In the fast-paced realm of aeronautical engineering, the introduction of CycloRotors has heralded a paradigm.......... READ MORE

Points of interest

Sailing the Skies in Style: Airbus’s Novel Vision for Air Travel

Navigating the dawn of a fresh chapter in aviation, Airbus recently shared its audacious plans.......... READ MORE

Drones News & Articles

Boosting Agriculture: A Drone Revolution Awaits in Budapest

The stage is set in Hungary, as it stands on the brink of an exciting.......... READ MORE

News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel

Embracing the Future with Rolls-Royce’s Revolutionary UltraFan Engine

Just when you thought the apex of innovation had been reached, Rolls-Royce challenges the notion.......... READ MORE

Air taxi News & Articles

Testing of perhaps the most promising air taxi begins

For some of us, the very idea of an air taxi evokes scenes straight out.......... READ MORE

Additional aircraft News & Articles

Navigating the Future: Autonomous Helicopters Soar High

Unmanned helicopters are no longer a concept in some futuristic Sci-Fi novel. They're here, revolutionizing.......... READ MORE

EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles

Embracing the Future: Seoul’s Leap into Urban Air Mobility

In an audacious move to revolutionize its transport system, Seoul - the bustling South Korean.......... READ MORE