Plane Talking

I write from Amsterdam where technicians and flight crew from Dutch airline KLM are preparing one of their Boeing 747 aircraft for a landmark flight. When it takes off in four and a half hours at 1415 CET, it will be carrying not only a select group of around 40 politicians, technical experts and industry leaders, but also a fuel made from the plant camelina.

Japan Airlines conducted a test flight earlier this year using biofuel made from camelina, jatropha and algae.

I am about to head over to the airport now and will be bringing you pictures as the flight takes-off. Follow it live on twitter (@enviroaero) and if you have any questions you’d like me to ask the crew or people on board today, tweet them to me!

KLM biofuel demonstration – update 1: the fuel

With the flight around two hours away, I thought I would fill you in a bit on the main biofuel crop being used on this flight - camelina. The plant is also known as gold-of-pleasure and German sesame, among other things. It has been grown as a crop by farmers in Europe for at least 3,000 years. Prior to electricity and gas, the oil from its seeds was harvested to produce oil lamp and it is also used as a cooking oil, although has largely been replaced by other crops.

Its seeds contain a very high oil content and it can be grown in rotation with other food crops such as wheat and cereal, in moderate climates such as the US, Europe and Central Asia. It is estimated that the US state of Montana alone could support between two and three million acres of camelina, generating 200 to 300 million gallons of oil each year.

Although it looks nothing like them, it comes from the same family as cauliflower, radish and cabbage! The fact that it can be grown in the off-season from food supply crops and on the marginal land (as well as being drought-resistant), makes camelina a good source of sustainable aviation biofuel. For this flight, the camelina oil was provided by Sustainable Oils and Great Plains from the USA. This was refined and blended together with Jet-A1 by Honeywell UOP - a company that specialises in refining biofuel.

KLM biofuel demonstration – update 2: grey skies but green fuel

As Captain Tim ten Velde prepares to fly the Boeing 747-400 with one engine running a 50% Camelina biofuel mix.

KLM biofuel demonstration – update 3: And here is the engine in question - the number one engine has the biofuels mix in it.

KLM biofuel demonstration – update 4: Clean energy is a flight! The World Wildlife Fund Congratulates KLM with this step

KLM biofuel demonstration – update 5: take off

Flight KL1919 has just taken off from Amsterdam Airport for its hour-long demonstration. It will be flying over SPL, Groningen, Waddeneilanden, Den Helder, IJmuiden, Zierikzee, Apeldoorn (Veluwe) and back to SPL. The flight will take 45-60 mins and their are some 40 passengerson board.

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KLM biofuel demonstration – update 6: why have the flight?

So, we have been calling this flight a demonstration, rather than a test… why? Well, we are actually quite close to getting certification for the use of biofuels in commercial flight. The tests conducted earlier this year provided very valuable data that has been analysed over the past 10 months or so. In many ways, the testing has moved on from altitude and system flight tests.

While the industry will also be looking closely at the results of today’s flight (and any data that is generated), it is more useful in its role as an ambassador for the use of biofuels in aviation. As the world turns to better sources of energy, we want to make sure that aviation is able to fully benefit from these new types of fuel.

The danger for us is that sustainable, second-generation biofuels may be diverted to run cars and trucks rather than fly aircraft. These forms of transport have other options – such as electricity – so we feel strongly that aviation should be able to make the most of its only low-carbon energy source available in the future – biofuels.

This flight is a strong demonstration of our commitment in this area and shows governments, fuel suppliers and biofuel start-ups that we are serious and we want sustainable fuels. It’s a wake-up call for these important audiences. And there are whispers here in Amsterdam that KLM may be about to demonstrate their seriousness on biofuels concretely…

KLM biofuel demonstration – update 7: landing and results

The aircraft has landed and is now taxiing towards us here at the KLM maintenance base. Over the next few hours, I will post some of the media coverage from the flight here.

KLM biofuel demonstration – update 8

The Danish Economics Minister is speaking at the launch of a new joint venture company that will put biofuels at the heart of KLM's business. More soon.

Final update: a big announcement

When the flight was over, it was time for KLM to make their big announcement of the day (surprisingly, the most interesting news is actually not the flight!). They are going to not just be asking for biofuels in their tanks, but have teamed up with North Sea Petroleum and Spring Associates to actually start producing the stuff.

A new joint-venture company will be formed to speed up production of sustainable biofuels. It will be called SkyEnergy and, significantly, the environment group WWF will have a major role in setting sustainability criteria for the fuel and advising in this area. Johan van de Gronden, director of WWF The Netherlands said, “the establishment of SkyEnergy is a groundbreaking initiative. KLM’s demonstration flight serves as a concrete step towards achieving a more sustainable future. We still have a long way to go in relation to biofuels for aviation, but by investing in this manner KLM is once again taking the lead.”

For us at the Air Transport Action Group, our executive director Paul Steele has said this flight shows the industry’s serious commitment in this area:

“This flight today and KLM’s significant announcement of investment in biofuels is a further clear demonstration of the industry’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions. As the world’s governments work towards an agreement on climate change in Copenhagen in a few weeks, we can proudly say that aviation is showing leadership in the business community.”