Jatropha is a weed that grows in plenty in nations like India, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania and is often a serious threat to food crops as it grows at a rapid pace and uses up all nutrients in soil. But Air New Zealand along with Boeing and Rolls Royce’s testing unit are turning this unwanted pest into biofuel for flights of tomorrow.

Boeing committed to going the biofuel way for jets because it sees a very urgent need to change from fossil fuel dependency that has been affecting the planet and the aviation industry in a seriously negative way.

Air New Zealand is helping them in this regard as both of them are coming together for a test flight on December 3 that will be powered by a 50/50 blend of Jet A-1 fuel and a synthetic paraffinic kerosene derived from Jatropha that was developed by UOP (!! pdf link)

Rolls Royce has successfully tested this mix and has found it good enough for a Boeing flight. Now it will be just a matter of time, some fine tweaking and maybe a little luck before we have jets that are completely powered by biofuel derived from algae and weed. – via Ecogeek

Image courtesy of Thomas@Bod

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Here’s another new discovery towards the green revolution! Rolls Royce has come up with a brilliant modified version of an open rotor propeller plane installed with a less noise making engine as opposed to its original loud engine.

The engine has been tested with results showing a remarkable cut down on greenhouse gas emissions to 30% and also a great save on fuel costs as compared to the modern turbo jet engines.

Although CO2 from airplanes is barely 2-3% of the total global emissions, the rate of travel has gone up by 6-7% with the airline travel efficiency making improvements of only 1% a year. As solar planes are not being thought upon in the near future, the propeller plane is a feasible option for increasing travel efficiency and cutting down on fuel consumption.

Apart from Rolls Royce, General Electric, Pratt & Whitney and Snecma are also venturing upon the open rotor propeller plane. – via GreenDaily

Image courtesy of Moritz Josch