Boeing's Eco-friendly Flight

Boeing aircraft company has completed the world's first flight using 'green diesel', a sustainable biofuel made from vegetable oils, waste cooking oil and animal fats. 

The company powered its ecoDemonstrator 787 flight test airplane on December 2 with a blend of 15% green diesel and 85% petroleum jet fuel in the left engine. Green diesel offers a tremendous opportunity to make sustainable aviation biofuel more available and more affordable.

Sustainable green diesel is widely available and used in ground transportation. This fuel is chemically similar to HEFA (hydro-processed esters and fatty acids) aviation biofuel approved in 2011. Green diesel is chemically distinct and a different fuel product than "biodiesel," which also is used in ground transportation. With production capacity of 800 million gallons (3 billion litres) in the US, Europe and Asia, green diesel could rapidly supply as much as 1% of global jet fuel demand. It’s use shall also reduce emissions which weaken the ozone layer in stratosphere.

Green diesel is among more than 25 new technologies being tested by Boeing's ecoDemonstrator Program aboard 787 Dreamliner ZA004. Green diesel differs from biodiesel, and the two are produced through different processes. The program accelerates the testing, refinement, and use of new technologies and methods that can improve aviation's environmental performance.

On a lifecycle basis, sustainably produced green diesel reduces carbon emissions by 50 to 90 percent compared to fossil fuel, according to Finland-based Neste Oil, which supplied green diesel for the ecoDemonstrator 787.