tagged w/ Camelina
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Did you hear that Japan Airlines have just saved the world? That's how they've made their maiden camelina biofuel flight sound. They did a 90-minute test flight out of Tokyo on Friday and Japan Airlines president Haruka Nishimatsu said:
Today is an extremely important day for Japan Airlines, for aviation, and for the environment.
Just a little over the top, but we are pleased to see airlines jumping on the greener flying bandwagon. The test flight used a mix of camelina, a second generation biofuel, and regular jet fuel, and it all happened without any dramas. Keep it up, camelina-lovers.
What's That Smell? :: Airlines Begin Testing Biofuel on Flights
JAL is testing out camelina, Air New Zealand is fiddling with something called Jatropha, and Virgin Atlantic has already shamed us all by completing the first commercial biofuel flight on coconut oil, transatlantic even! In response, the good old US carriers seem to be fiddling their thumbs and ignoring the issue when in actuality, they are behind closed doors and mixing their potions to match.
Earlier this month, Continental managed to quietly complete the USA's first biofuel test flight using a Boeing 737 with a mix of regular jet fuel and biofuel in only one of the two engines. Needless to say, it didn't crash.
http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/1/27/9512/39412/travel/What%27s+That+Smell%3F+%3A%3A+Airlines+Begin+Testing+Biofuel+on+FlightsDid you hear that Japan Airlines have just saved the world? That's how... more
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The search for sources of biofuels that won’t negatively impact the world’s food supply and add to global warming appears to be bearing some fruit. One company that thinks it has a solution, Great Plain - The Camelina Company, has proclaimed itself the “world’s largest camelina producer.” Just what is camelina? Camelina is an oilseed crop in the same family as mustard, rapeseed and cabbage, that’s beginning to be grown and crushed throughout the United States and Canada for both fuel and cattle feed. Camelina is well on its way to a low cost, high yield, alternative to crops like corn or soy as source of biodiesel.
Federal mandates to increase alternative fuel production have contributed to the rising cost of consumer goods and food, and may actually increase global warming as valuable farmland is being used to grow crops for fuel. Camelina offers one solution for reaching biodiesel production goals by providing a sustainable, low-input biofuel feedstock that doesn’t interfere with food production. Camelina, unlike many other crops, is virtually 100 percent efficient. It can be harvested and crushed for fuel and the remaining parts can be used to produce high quality omega-3 rich animal feed, fiberboard and glycerin. It actually produces both food and fuel.
Camelina has the ability to grow on marginal land, utilizing very little moisture, in cold states as far north as Montana and Canada. Camelina is also an excellent rotational crop and has been shown to enhance the yield of subsequent crops such as wheat by up to 15 percent.
Great Plains has contracted with several crushing partners in North America to produce over 10 million road miles of camelina biodiesel to date, and plans to boost production to 100 million gallons by the year 2012.
The search for sources of biofuels that won’t negatively impact the... more
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