24 March, 2015

First biofuel flight for Hainan

Hainan Airlines of China has completed the country's first flight powered by fuel made from waste cooking oil.
               
The Boeing 737 aircraft had been configured and modified slightly for the purpose of the flight, which took off from Shanghai on Saturday with 100 passengers aboard going to Beijing.
 
The cooking oil collected from restaurants was used by top Chinese oil company Sinopec to refine the oil and form the special the biofuel. Hainan Airlines vice president Pu Ming personally piloted the flight which used 50-50 mix of biofuel and conventional jet fuel.

Hong Kong-based airlines Dragonair announced a few days ago it had been planning to make China's first ever commercial flight using recycled oil, however, the airline was eventually forced to postpone the flight due permit problems. 

According to reports the biofuel used in the Hainan Airlines should emit 50 to 80 per cent less carbon dioxide than traditional aviation fuels, significantly reducing air traffic pollution. 

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