Airbus A380 First to Fly With Alternative Fuel
Airbus beat Boeing to the punch and flew the first commercial aircraft using an alternative fuel in one engine. The really interesting thing is the two airlines are using different alternative fuels in their test flights.
Boeing announced in January they would test an alternative fuel in one engine of a 747, but did not disclose what that fuel would be. They did, however, talk a great deal about an algae-derived fuel, without being specific.
Airbus, meanwhile, said it used a liquid fuel processed from gas (Gas to Liquids - GTL), mixed with regular jet fuel in the number one engine. The flight, from Filton, UK to Toulouse, France, took three hours. The plane is powered by four Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines, and said to be the most fuel efficient in the air today.
Boeing, meanwhile had planned their test in late February, as explained in this story: Algae-Based Biofuel to Power Virgin Atlantic 747 Jet?, filed on Jan. 15.
[…] Airbus used a gas to liquid fuel, derived from natural gas, in its flight from Filton, UK to Toulouse, France in mid January. […]
[…] generation of airplanes - Two airplane manufacturers are launching new plane models, the Airbus 380 and Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, that are built to be more efficient in flight and in the […]
We found an interesting article about the problems with Ethanol on ConsumerReports.org:
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2008/03/ethanol-e85.html
“But there are some problems with increasing ethanol blends. Ethanol contains less energy than gasoline, so increasing the amount of ethanol in gasoline will likely result in lower fuel economy. Increasing standard fuel blends from zero to 10 percent ethanol, as is happening today, has little or no impact on fuel economy. In tests, the differences occur within the margin of error, about 0.5 percent. Further increasing ethanol levels to 20 percent reduces fuel economy between 1 and 3 percent, according to testing by the DOE and General Motors. Evaluations are underway to determine if E20 will burn effectively in today’s engines without impacting reliability and longevity, and also assessing potential impact on fuel economy.”
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