Renewable jet fuel will be taking flight during the upcoming Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil on June 19, 2012. Azul Airlines, powered with renewable fuel produced from sugarcane by Amyris, has scheduled a demonstration flight on an Azul E195 aircraft powered by GE’s CF34-10E engines. The flight is being coined “Azul+Verde,” which means “a greener blue”.

Amyris’s renewable jet fuel offers lower greenhouse gas emissions including a reduction of carbon dioxide. The fuel is being developed to be compliant with Jet A/A-1 fuel specifications and should provide equal performance to traditional jet fuel. Sugarcane is a major crop in Brazil and supplies the biofuels industry with feedstock.

Additional flight plans will be released once the demonstration test is approved by Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency.