UOP process technology produced green jet fuel from jatropha that will power an Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400
DES PLAINES, Ill., Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- UOP LLC, a Honeywell
(NYSE: HON) company, announced today that its process technology was used to
convert second-generation, renewable feedstocks to green jet fuel that will be
used on a demonstration flight by Air New Zealand.
UOP collaborated with Air New Zealand, Boeing and Rolls-Royce to produce
and test renewable jet fuel made from the oil of jatropha plants. The flight,
slated for Dec. 3 in Auckland, New Zealand, will be the first ever of a
commercial airliner powered by sustainable, second-generation renewable
resources. The green jet fuel will be mixed 50/50 with Jet A1 and will power
one of the Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400's Rolls-Royce engines RB211 engines.
'We must diversify our fuel supply to meet the rapid growth in energy
demand while effectively balancing social and environmental needs,' said
Jennifer Holmgren, general manager of UOP's Renewable Energy and Chemicals
business unit. 'This team has stepped up to do something about the rapidly
evolving energy landscape, and as a result, we could see viable
commercial-scale production and usage of biofuels in the aviation industry in
a matter of just a few years.'
Jatropha, an inedible plant can grow in conditions where other food crops
cannot, is considered a sustainable, second-generation resource because its
cultivation and harvesting do not tax valuable food, land or water resources,
and can provide socioeconomic benefit to the regions where it is grown.
UOP, a recognized global leader in process technology to convert petroleum
feedstocks to fuels and chemicals, is developing a range of processes to
produce green fuels from natural feedstocks. UOP's green jet fuel process
technology is based on the hydroprocessing technology commonly used in today's
refineries to produce transportation fuels.
In this process, hydrogen is added to remove oxygen from the biological
feedstock such as oil from jatropha plants or algae.
