SavannahSixManFan
11-man fan
First Transatlantic Biofuel-Powered Flight Takes Off Friday by Todd Woody
June 17, 2011 -- The first great race of the green aviation age has begun.
On Friday, I’ll be aboard a Honeywell-owned Gulfstream G450 business jet as it makes the first biofuel-powered transatlantic flight. We’ll land on Saturday at the Paris Air Show, beating by two days a biofuel-fueled Boeing 747-8 freighter that will also cross the Atlantic and land at the air show.
Both planes will fill their tanks with Green Jet Fuel made by Honeywell’s UOP subsidiary from camelina seeds, an inedible plant. Final regulatory approval of this type of aviation biofuel is expected within weeks.
But there’s some big differences, aside from the size of the jets. The Honeywell plane will use a 50-50 blend of biofuel and petroleum aviation fuel to power one of its two engines. The Boeing freighter, commanded by Boeing pilots, will pump a 15% biofuel mix in its four big engines.
"This historic flight is a boost to aviation’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions and improve efficiency in all phases of our industry,” Elizabeth Lund, Boeing’s vice president for the 747-8, said in a statement. Not to be outdone, Honeywell will retrace the flight path of Charles Lindberg’s pioneering 1927 Atlantic crossing to Paris. (Inspiring a green Lindy Hop, perhaps?).
“From advanced avionics to innovative and sustainable Green Jet Fuel and energy efficient engines, Honeywell is applying industry-leading expertise to make flights safer, more environmentally friendly and more affordable,” Honeywell said in a statement Thursday.
I’ll be blogging and tweeting from the Gulfstream after we take off from Morristown, New Jersey, Friday evening. In the meantime, I’m writing this aboard an Airbus A320 en route to New York from San Francisco. The next leg of my journey should be considerably greener. To date, Honeywells UCP has produced around 700,000 gallons of green fuels for global testing and certification efforts at a facility near Houston Texas.
June 17, 2011 -- The first great race of the green aviation age has begun.
On Friday, I’ll be aboard a Honeywell-owned Gulfstream G450 business jet as it makes the first biofuel-powered transatlantic flight. We’ll land on Saturday at the Paris Air Show, beating by two days a biofuel-fueled Boeing 747-8 freighter that will also cross the Atlantic and land at the air show.
Both planes will fill their tanks with Green Jet Fuel made by Honeywell’s UOP subsidiary from camelina seeds, an inedible plant. Final regulatory approval of this type of aviation biofuel is expected within weeks.
But there’s some big differences, aside from the size of the jets. The Honeywell plane will use a 50-50 blend of biofuel and petroleum aviation fuel to power one of its two engines. The Boeing freighter, commanded by Boeing pilots, will pump a 15% biofuel mix in its four big engines.
"This historic flight is a boost to aviation’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions and improve efficiency in all phases of our industry,” Elizabeth Lund, Boeing’s vice president for the 747-8, said in a statement. Not to be outdone, Honeywell will retrace the flight path of Charles Lindberg’s pioneering 1927 Atlantic crossing to Paris. (Inspiring a green Lindy Hop, perhaps?).
“From advanced avionics to innovative and sustainable Green Jet Fuel and energy efficient engines, Honeywell is applying industry-leading expertise to make flights safer, more environmentally friendly and more affordable,” Honeywell said in a statement Thursday.
I’ll be blogging and tweeting from the Gulfstream after we take off from Morristown, New Jersey, Friday evening. In the meantime, I’m writing this aboard an Airbus A320 en route to New York from San Francisco. The next leg of my journey should be considerably greener. To date, Honeywells UCP has produced around 700,000 gallons of green fuels for global testing and certification efforts at a facility near Houston Texas.
