Posted on 04/01/2022 12:34:05 PM PDT by Red Badger
The Airbus A380 recently completed its first flight on 100 percent sustainable fuelAirbus VIEW 1 IMAGES
As part of a broader push on part of the aviation industry to reduce its carbon footprint, Airbus has conducted the first ever flight of its giant A380 jumbo jet using 100 percent biofuel. This is the third Airbus aircraft to fly using the sustainable fuel made up of primarily cooking oil, as the company works to certify the technology by the end of the decade.
The aircraft featured in the groundbreaking flight is the Airbus ZEROe Demonstrator, an A380 adapted for use as a flying testbed and one the company plans to also use to test out hydrogen combustion jet engines.
For this particular outing, the aircraft was loaded up with 27 tonnes of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), made mostly with cooking oil and waste fats. This powered the A380's Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine across a three-hour test flight out of the Blagnac Airport in Toulouse France on March 28, with a second flight then carrying it all the way to Nice Airport on March 29.
This demonstration follows successful flights of the Airbus A350 and the Airbus A319neo single-aisle plane using SAF last year. Using the biofuel to now power the world's largest passenger jet marks another step forward for the testing program, as Airbus aspires to bring the world's first zero-emission aircraft to market by 2035.
Airbus isn't alone in pursuing cleaner aviation with the help of cooking oil. Way back in 2012, Boeing made the first biofuel-powered Pacific crossing in its 787 Dreamliner using a mix of regular jet fuel and fuel derived mainly from cooking oil. In 2014, it even opened up a biofuel production plant in China based to ensure a consistent supply.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
Biofuel is a solution looking for a problem.
Yes I could see the purification testing and confirmation required to make it a standard enough product for human conveyance very cost prohibitive. This is just a test bed and no passengers involved.
I don’t fly any more but definitely would Not fly on that plane.
Did they include the 112%+ input of diesel or gasoline, NG etc required to produce that “27 tonnes” of biofuel? Yeah, thought not.
Don’t let et anyone fool you, biofuels do not grow on trees nor get pumped from the ground at a few dollars per BTU. They are made from all sorts of other energy intensive inputs and then touted as sustainable. Haha, the joke is on us.
Oh, and by the bye, they aren’t “greener” nor “sustainable” (meaning self-replicating w/o add’l energy input) unless all the energy input requirements are produced from unicorn horn powder.....
Say what? Note to Boeing: this kind of thinking hasn't worked out very well for Germany.
So what’s the range of an A380 with full bio fuel?
ML/NJ
My SIL works for Rolls (the engines mentioned in the article).
He says this is 100% greenwashing.
This will have unintended consequences like the addition f corn to gasoline did...
Worldwide starvation as wheat supplies diminished...
27 tons of mostly cooking oils... 100,000 flights per day...
27 x 100,000 will result in worldwide starvation...
This whole thing is perfect for the communists ruling us and most of the rest of the planet to control serfdom more easily...
Every strategy/plan the communists have devised and implemented is directed to expanding control of global serfdom...
Education
Abortion
Migration
Climate change
Election fraud
Environmental protection
Restrictions on natural resources
Perversion
Racism
Welfare
Taxation
Bloated bureaucracies
Unions
Wars
Biological attacks
Our communist masters are on a roll and there are no “meaningful” efforts underway to stop them in the long term...
What was the cost of the bio-fuel compared to Jet A? I assure you it was far more.
The price of your ticket is determined by the price and maintenance and wages of the aircraft personnel which is the minor part. The major part is the price of fuel over the 30 year lifespan of the aircraft. Bio fuel works. It is expensive as hell.
Interesting perspective. Thanks.
Of course, capturing all that waste fat and oil from highly distributed sources and getting it to a refinery is a challenge. It’s like trying to capture the small amount of power from tens of millions of wind turbines and collecting it.
To add a little fuel to your fiery criticism (pun intended), listed below are figures for recent year consumption of aviation fuel. How many acres under cultivation does it take to produce a billion gallons of aviation fuel? A billion gallons is only 1.67% of estimated 2022 aviation fuel consumption. And exactly where are those acres located to guarantee supply security?
Total fuel consumption of
commercial airlines worldwide
between 2006 and 2022
Year/Gallons (billions)
2022** 60 (estimated)
2021 57
2020 post-COVID 52 (actual)
2020 pre-COVID** 98 (estimated)
2019 95
2018 94
2017 90
2016 85
2015 81
2014 77
2013 74
2012 73
2011 72
2010 70
2009 66
2008 70
2007 71
2006 69
On a less serious note, this business about jet engine exhaust smelling like French fries or fried chicken, if true, does have its serious side.
I had the pleasure of visiting a relative in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami during March. The particular apartment she lives in is directly under the flight path of jet airliners approaching Miami International Airport from the south. It is only a mile or two from the airport, so the aircraft are pretty low at that point in the landing cycle. We routinely had exhaust fumes drifting down into the neighborhood. It wasn’t so bad that it would be a source of major complaining. The wind seem to do a pretty good job of dispersing most of it aloft so that it didn’t become too concentrated at ground level. But you could smell it especially after a series of closely spaced landings.
I can just imagine how that neighborhood, which has a lot of expensive homes, would feel about the persistent smell of fried foods wafting in the air. I’m not sure how the peacocks would deal with it either since the ladies are everywhere.
Sounds about right. Looks like you did the math!
The earth (God) makes corn.
The earth (God) makes crude oil.
What’s the difference?
I KNOW! We can’t EAT crude oil.
Farmer goes to combine his corn for bio-fuel.
He fills his tractor up with diesel/gasoline and gets to combining.
The farmer fires up his one MILLION btu propane gas grain dryer in order to get a better price for his corn.
Fossil fuels, who needs them when we have bio-fuel.
Just replace the propellers with wind turbines and mount solar panels on the wings.
Thanks!
Airlines have long-term fuel contracts and pay much less for Jet-A than the business jets pay at FBOs.
Bio fuel HAS to be more expensive!
Quit smoking years ago!
Airlines have long-term fuel contracts and pay much less for Jet-A than the business jets pay at FBOs.
Bio fuel HAS to be more expensive!
Some airlines have long-term Jet-A contracts. Delta is reported to own a refinery.
Check out this article: https://www.axios.com/local/atlanta/2022/03/15/southwest-airlines-rising-fuel-costs-fuel-hedging
Experimental means no passengers.
That’s a relief.
Many factors used to determine the NAM/1000lbs.
They include:
Airplane Gross weight
Flight Level (cruise altitude)
Air Temperature and planned Mach (speed)
Power setting
For the Boeing 777, 2engine M.84 Cruise at GW 400,000lbs FL 370 Standard Temp -26 C
Fuel burn is 38.9 Nautical air miles/1000
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