One Day We Will Fly Without Using Crude Oil

Airline flies a 747 on fuel from a plant
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/world/15057-airline-flies-a-747-on-fuel-from-a-plant

AUCKLAND, Jan 1 — Air New Zealand tested a jet fuel made from the jatropha plant as the airline searches for an affordable and environmentally friendly alternative to crude oil.
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Unlike other biofuel crops like soybeans and corn, jatropha needs little water or fertiliser and can be grown almost anywhere — even in sandy, saline or otherwise infertile soil. Each seed produces 30 to 40 per cent of its mass in oil, giving it a high per-acre yield, specialists said.
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In February, Virgin Atlantic became the first airline to test a biofuel blend in a commercial aircraft, using a 20 per cent mixture of coconut oil and babassu nut oil in one of its four engines.

Two more airlines are to test their alternatives next month. Continental Airlines will conduct a test flight on Jan 7 using a blend that includes algae and jatropha, the first biofuel test flight of a commercial airliner owned by an American company.

And Japan Airlines is planning a test flight on Jan 30 using a fuel based on the camelina oilseed.
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