Virgin Atlantic to test biofuel in 747 in early 2008

Virgin Atlantic to test bio fuel in 747 in early 2008

British entrepreneur and serial investor Richard Branson has revealed more details about his Virgin Group's hopes to produce clean biofuels by around the start of the next decade and said early next year will test a jet plane on renewable fuel.

Virgin hopes to provide clean fuel for buses, trains and cars within three or four years, he told a Mortgage Bankers Association meeting in Boston. Earlier this year, Virgin Trains launched the first scheduled passenger service with a train operating on biodiesel (more here).

In the meantime, Virgin will be conducting a test jet flight on renewable fuels. "Early next year we will fly one of our 747s without passengers with one of the fuels that we have developed," Branson told the annual conference. The fuel in question is likely to be biobutanol which can be made from lignocellulosic biomass (more about this biofuel here, here and here). Earlier, a company spokesman said the test will certainly not involve the use of synthetic biofuels, because these have already proven to work in jet engines.

Virgin is developing biofuels for aircraft in conjunction with Boeing Co and engine-maker GE Aviation, a unit of General Electric Co. Previously, Branson had said the company would test the fuel sometime next year and that some people had said it would be late in the year.

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