Air New Zealand to use environmentally sustainable fuel within five years...

Air New Zealand aims to have at least 10 percent of its fleet running on environmentally sustainable fuels within five years.

A test flight of a Boeing 747-400 fuelled with second generation biofuel extracted from the African originated "Jatropha" plant will depart from Auckland in August or September.

Rob Fyfe, Air New Zealand CEO, says the airline is growing increasingly confident that commercial quantities of environmentally sustainable fuels that meet all the airline's stringent criteria will become available over the next few years. He says studies have already shown that sustainable fuels can lead to a significant reduction in carbon emissions with a 40-to-50 percent lower carbon footprint on a life-cycle basis.

There are plantations already in Hawaii and India.

Read at Green Blog