From the coverage we’ve provided on energy.agwired.com so far, I think it’s safe to say biofuels are continually gaining traction with ground transportation and machinery. So, it seems quite natural that air travel would be the next frontier for biofuels. Yahoo!News reports that Virgin Group CEO, Richard Branson plans to fuel one of his jets with biofuels in 2008. Here’s a small blurb from the Yahoo!News article:
Virgin will be conducting a test jet flight on renewable fuels. “Early next year we will fly one of our 747s without passengers with one of the fuels that we have developed,” Branson told the annual conference.
Virgin is developing biofuels for aircraft in conjunction with Boeing Co and engine-maker GE Aviation, a unit of General Electric Co. Previously, Branson had said the company would test the fuel sometime next year and that some people had said it would be late in the year.
But Virgin isn’t the only company seeking “cleaner” air travel. The article mentions that Branson is trying to beat Air New Zealand’s attempt to pilot a jet with biofuels.