Qantas, Agrisoma, Honeywell, AltAir, WFS partner in historic first Pacific jet biofuels flight
Bit of biofuels from the bush, poured into and powering one of those Flying Kangaroos, and you have the latest news out of Australia, and a beauty if you happen to barrack for aviation biofuels. The world’s first dedicated biofuel flight between the United States and Australia, QF96 from Los Angeles to Melbourne, has departed from LAX and arrives roughly at Digest press time.
The trans-Pacific 15 hour flight will operate with approximately 24,000kg of blended biofuel, saving 18,000kg in carbon emissions. Qantas will use biofuel processed from Brassica Carinata, a non-food, industrial type of mustard seed, developed by Canadian-based agricultural-technology company, Agrisoma Biosciences (Agrisoma). Across its lifecycle, using Carinata-derived biofuel can reduce carbon emissions by eighty percent compared to traditional jet fuel.
The ten percent biofuel blend used on today’s flight will therefore see a seven percent reduction in emissions on this route compared to normal operations.