Virgin Atlantic’s 100% alternative fuel-powered test flight last year – the first of its kind – reduced CO2 emissions by two-thirds, new data has shown.
Flight 100, operated by a Boeing 787 twin jet, flew from Heathrow to New York last November powered entirely by sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
Revealing its findings from the flight, Virgin on Tuesday (7 May) said the operation had proved SAF was a “safe drop-in replacement for fossil fuel”.
“The use of 100% SAF saved the life-cycle equivalent of 95 tonnes of CO2," said Virgin. "Or 64% of the emissions of a standard London Heathrow to New York JFK flight."
Virgin said this equalled removing 54 cars from the road for a year. The flight also accounted for a particulate reduction of 40%, while SAF was found to produce 1% more energy compared to the same mass of fossil fuel.
However, the fuel used was 87% produced from waste fats sourced from Portugal and Austria. These are likely to be animal fats, as Virgin stressed there was no used cooking oil involved. Environmentalists argue these are not truly sustainable.
The remaining 13% of the mix was from dextrose produced from industrial corn starch.
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