Boeing to Test China Biofuel

In China, Boeing Co. will be conducting test flights with jatropha based biofuel in China as part of a consortium including Air China.  When Biofuels Digest first reported this May 27, Al Bryant stated that he expected jatropha-based jet fuel would become available between 2013 and 2015.

This week, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Boeing stated that the test would be conducted by mid 2011.  Al Bryant stated in the interview, “It’s harvested here and processed here, and we test it with an airplane operated by a Chinese airline and is going to be flown here in China…. This flight is going to demonstrate that China has the ability to create a new biofuel industry here in China.”

Al Bryant further stated, “We’re focused on plant-based sustainable drop-in’ biofuels so that you can fly to Chengdu, fill up with a biofuel, and fly to Australia somewhere and fill up with a petroleum-based fuel, and you don’t have to clean the tank or drain it or anything.”

More on the story.