Air New Zealand declares first jatropha biofuel flight a success

Air New Zealand last week successfully completed the world's first test flight of a commercial airliner running on a jatropha-based biofuel, and immediately announced that it would now begin work to have the fuel certified for use in passenger jets. A blend of 50 per cent jatropha and 50 per cent standard jet fuel was used to power one engine during the two hour flight over Auckland, New Zealand, while a series of in-flight tests were carried out. Chief Pilot on the flight, Captain David Morgan, said the biofuel performed well through both the fuel system and engine. “To complete our testing programme our engineers will be thoroughly assessing the engine and fuel systems looking for any changes as a result of the use of biofuel“ he said. “Together with our partners on this project we will then review all the results as part of our drive to have jatropha certified as an aviation fuel.“

“We stand at the earliest stages of sustainable fuel development and it is exciting to be a part of this important moment in aviation history.”he said.
Environmental groups have raised concerns over the extent to which the aviation industry can rely on biofuels before increased demand for energy crops leads to increased deforestation and rising food prices. However, advocates of jatropha-based fuels claim that the plant can be grown effectively on marginal land and does not displace other crops. Air New Zealand said it had sourced and refined its jatropha oil from environmentally sustainable farms in South Eastern Africa and India.

Source: Business Green

German government advisory council: Jatropha is the better alternative

The new report of the German Advisory Council on Global Changes characterises Jatropha as a better alternative towards first generation biofuels. In its new report “World in Transition - Future Bioenergy and Sustainable Land Use“ the council comments on Jatropha as follows: “Bio energy can only be classed as sustainable energy if the land on which it is grown continues in the long term to produce as much biomass as is used for energy - in other words, if long-term soil fertility is ensured. (...) From this point of view perennial crops such as Jatropha (...) score better than annual crops such as rape, cereals or maize; the former group should therefore always be preferred.“

“From the point of view of climate change mitigation the first-generation biofuels (such as biodiesel from rape or bioethanol from maize), which involve the cultivation of temperate, annual crops on agricultural land, score very badly. (...) A different picture emerges for the use of perennial tropical plants such as Jatropha (...) that are grown on degraded land and result in carbon being stored in the soil there. In this situation a major climate change mitigation effect can be achieved at low cost.”

The complete report of the German Advisory Council on Global Changes as well as summaries can be downloaded under http://www.wbgu.de/wbgu_jg2008_kurz_engl.pdf


Source: German Advisory Council on Global Changes

Renier van Rooyen joins the board of the Jatropha Sustainable Biofuels Alliance

China's National Development and Reform Commission approved the construction of three jatropha-based biodiesel pilot projects with a total annual capacity of 187,000 tons. This includes a 66,000-ton plant in the southwestern part Sichuan province, as well as a 55,000-ton plant in Guizhou and a 66,000-ton plant in Hainan province. China has set a target to use 2.2 million tons non-grain biodiesel by 2020 to ease its dependence on oil imports.

Source: Energycurrent