Virgin Plans Biofuel Flight

Using one of its Boeing 747s, Virgin Atlantic will conduct a demonstration flight next month using renewable fuel. Virgin’s owner, Richard Branson, said the 747-400 would make the one hour and 20 minute trip from London’s Heathrow Airport to Amsterdam in late February using 20 percent biofuel and 80 percent conventional jet fuel. The test is part of a joint research project between Virgin, Boeing and GE Aviation. Virgin didn’t identify the specific biofuel, but did say that the carrier rejected fuels derived from crops because of the tremendous land area that would be needed to be cultivated for fuel production. For related news