Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., the U.K. carrier controlled by billionaire Richard Branson, tested a jumbo jet partly powered by a biofuel made from coconut oil, a first for a commercial aircraft. The Boeing Co. 747-400, which took off from London and landed at Amsterdam, had one unmodified engine running on a mixture of about 25 percent biofuel and the rest standard jet kerosene, Branson said today at a Heathrow airport news conference.
"This pioneering flight, according to Branson, will enable those of us who are serious about reducing our carbon emissions to go on developing the fuels of the future, fuels which will power our aircraft in the years ahead through sustainable next-generation oils, such as algae,'' Branson admitted that the fuel source used today isn't plentiful enough to be a major resource for the airline industry. Nuts are harvested from palms by local workers from the Amazonian rainforest.