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Virgin
Atlantic
·
On February
24, 2008 the
first flight
of world by
a commercial
airline
Virgin
Atlantic -
Boeing 747
partly
powered by
biofuel
touched down
in
Amsterdam
after a
three-hour
journey from
Heathrow
·
In what is
billed as a
green fuel
breakthrough
in aviation
sector,
Virgin
Atlantic’s
Boeing 747
had
one of its
four engines
connected to
an
independent
biofuel tank
that would
provide 20
per cent of
the engine’s
power.
·
This reduces
risk to the
flight
because
there are
three other
engines
which can
power the
plane
entirely on
conventional
fuel if
there is a
problem.
·
The
technology
is still
being
manufactured
by companies
GE and
Boeing, but
Virgin
believes
within 10
years
airlines
could
routinely be
flying on
plant power.
·
The flight
did not
carry
passengers.
·
Earlier this
month,
Airbus used
the world's
largest
passenger
jet,
the A380 to
flight test
another
alternative
fuel - a
synthetic
mix of
gas-to-liquid.
·
Sir Richard
Branson is
Virgin boss
·
Many
environmentalists
argue that
cultivating
biofuel is
not
sustainable
and will
lead to
reduced land
for food.
BIOFUELS
·
They are any
fuels made
from living
things
·
Commonly
means fuel
made from
crops
including
corn
·
Pioneers
such as
Henry Ford
designed
cars to run
on biofuels
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