Airline successfully tests flight powered by biofuel

Brazil's largest airline said it has conducted what it called the first experimental flight in Latin America using aviation biofuel without incident.

TAM Airlines said in a statement that the 45-minute flight of an Airbus A320, using biofuel made from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas tree, took place Monday off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.

The statement said the biofuel was mixed half and half with conventional aviation kerosene.

The experimental flight is part of a joint project between TAM, Airbus and engine manufacturer CFM International. CFM Inter-national is a joint venture of the United States-based General Electric Company and France's Snecma.

The experimental flight is the first ever flown in Latin America using biofuel and the sixth worldwide since February 2008, Haldane Dodd, a spokesman for the Geneva-based Air Transport Action Group, said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Continental, Japan Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Air New Zealand and KLM have held similar experimental flights with biofuel produced from Jatropha and other materials such as coconut oil, algae and the camelina oil seed.

In the statement, TAM President Libano Barroso said that the airline hoped to create "a Brazilian platform for sustainable aviation bio-kerosene".

The statement added that culti-vating more Jatropha does not threaten food production or supply because is not edible "and can be planted along pastures and food crops".

The statement also claimed that studies have shown biofuels made from Jatropha produce 65 per cent to 80 per cent less carbon emissions than petroleum-derived aviation kerosene.

- AP