WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd October, 2018) Virgin Atlantic Airlines is carrying out the first commercial flight using jet fuel made from recycled waste gas, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) said in a news release.
"Carbon-rich pollution converted to a jet fuel will power a commercial flight for the first time," the release said on Tuesday. "The Virgin Atlantic Airlines' flight from Orlando to London using a Boeing 747 will usher in a new era for low-carbon aviation."
Through a combination of chemistry, biotechnology, engineering and catalysis, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and its industrial partner LanzaTech have succeeded in demonstrating that carbon can be recycled and used for commercial flight, the release explained.
"LanzaTech, a Chicago-based company, developed a unique carbon recycling technology that... are converted by bacteria to fuels and chemicals, such as ethanol," the release said.
The ethanol can be used for a range of low carbon products, including alcohol-to-jet synthetic paraffinic kerosene, which is now eligible to be used in commercial flights at up to 50 percent blends with conventional jet fuel, according to the release.
