Flight 1403 from Continental Airlines made history when it landed at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport at 1pm CST from Houston. Jim Reskoske, Honeywell’s vice president and general manager said, “What we have is an evolving product, this is a kind of boutique fuel, priced four times that of regular jet fuel, because it’s not yet widely available.” He expects this will change as companies secure funding to build plants to produce it on a massive scale.
The new environmental “eco-skies” painted Boeing was flown by Continental pilots and the completion of the Continental flight from Houstan, placed parent company United Continental Holdings Inc. in the lead by two days in the competition to launch the first biofuel-power air service in the U.S.
Alaska Airlines has two biofuel-powered passenger flights planned for this week from Seattle, Wash bound for Washington, D.C., and the other for Portland, Ore. Officials from Alaska Airlines said the 20 percent biofuel blend its planes will use will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10 percent.
Rekoske commented, “Our Green Jet Fuel also offers as much as an 85% net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to petroleum-based jet fuel. We received Defence Department funding from 2006 to 2008 for its initial research to develop military-grade jet fuel from organic waste.”
President Obama called on the Department of Energy, the Department of Agriculture and the Navy to each put in $170 million of existing funds to build plants that can make this fuel for the Navy.
Honeywell's Green Jet Fuel has powered 24 commercial and military biofuel test flights so far, including a transatlantic flight on a Honeywell-operated G 450 business aircraft and a supersonic one on a Navy F/A-18 Hornet.
Rekoske said today's flight was the first commercial U.S. one carrying passengers, whom he says United notified in advance about the unique but approved fuel.
In 2000 the aviation sector was responsible for 2 percent of total carbon dioxide emissions.
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