New Zealand Airline To Test Jumbo Jet Fueled By Jatropha Nuts

Air New Zealand and Boeing will test a jumbo jet powered in part by oil extracted from jatropha trees. The Air New Zealand flight, scheduled to depart Auckland Dec. 3, will use a 50-50 combination of jet fuel and jatropha nut oil harvested in Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania. Rob Fyfe, chief executive of the airline, called it “the next logical step in our efforts to further save fuel and reduce aircraft emissions.” If successful, it would be the second flight to use biofuels this year. In February, Virgin Atlantic completed a flight using 20 percent biofuel made from coconut oil and babassu palm oil. Environmental groups called the New Zealand campaign helpful, but cited concerns, including the impact on food supplies and habitat destruction. “The amount of jatropha that would be needed to power the world’s entire aviation sector cannot be produced in anything like a sustainable way,” said Robin Oakley, head of Greenpeace UK’s climate change campaign, “and even if large volumes could be grown, planes are an incredibly wasteful way of using it.”