It is around an hour and a half until the Air New Zealand 747-400 takes off from the main runway at Auckland Airport on a flight powered, in part, by the oil from the plant Jatropha. So what exactly is Jatropha? Well, Jatropha is actually a species of around 175 types of plants, shrubs and trees. The specific plant that Air New Zealand will be using today is the Jatropha Curcas, which grows to around three metres high. Its seeds contain an oil that is able to be refined into a biofuel. The oil yield is around 40% of the mass of the seed and even when the oil has been extracted, the remaining material can also be used as a fuel source when dried.
The thing that makes Jatropha Curcas stick out as a possible aviation biofuel is its ability to be supplied in a sustainable manner.
- The seeds are mildly toxic (in fact, one of the colloquial names for Jatropha Curcus is 'black vomit nut'... charming), and they are not eaten by humans or animals, so are able to become a sustainable supply for biofuels without hitting food supplies - a problem with some edible biofuel sources such as corn and sugarcane.
- The plant can grow in some fairly inhospitable conditions, ensuring that it does not need to compete with food crops for land or water. In fact, this could be a new type of cash crop for developing nations with non-arable land that is currently unused.
Jatropha oil is also a good candidate for use in aviation, as when it has been refined, it has almost exactly the same chemical properties as the Jet-A1 fuel that currently powers the commercial aviation industry. This means that it can be 'dropped-in' to the existing fuel supplies. The industry will then be able to use the existing infrastructure (pipelines, tankers, engines etc) and gradually increase the mix of biofuel as supplies become available.
Just about to tune in to the pre-flight briefing, I will post more about the flight itself once that is over. By the way, the briefing will be given by Air New Zealand's chief pilot Dave Morgan - someone I used to bump into occasionally when I worked at Auckland Airport and who is pictured below holding some of the fuel that will power this morning's flight.
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