Lufthansa Airbus A321 (D-AISE) coming from Hamburg.
There have been quite a few airlines testing out different biofuels, but none that have run biofuels on a long-term basis during scheduled passenger service. Starting in April 2011, Lufthansa will start a six month trial using an Airbus A321 on scheduled flights between Hamburg and Frankfurt using biofuel.
Only one of the A321’s engines will be using a 50-50 mix of biofuel and normal aviation fuel. They hope to use this six months to see how the use of biofuel will affect maintenance and engine life. The A321 will have a unique set up since it will only fly this route and only be fueled in Hamburg. Normally aircraft are used on different routes and can be fueled at almost any airport.
During the six month trial, Lufthansa expects to save about 1,500 tons of CO2 emissions. ’œLufthansa will be the world’s first airline to utilize biofuel in flight operations within the framework of a long-term trial. This is a further consistent step in a proven sustainability strategy, which Lufthansa has for many years successfully pursued and implemented,’ said Lufthansa Chief Wolfgang Mayrhuber.
This project, that Lufthansa is calling “burnFAIR,” is being funded in part by the German government. The government is investing about $3.3 million (2.5 million Euros) into the project, where Lufthansa is investing about $8.7 million (6.6 million Euros). The goal is to find a viable alternative to standard aviation fuel that can power airlines around the world with less emissions and be sustainable.
The use of biofuel is one element in a four-pillar strategy aimed at reducing overall emissions in air traffic at Lufthansa. Environmental goals can only be achieved in the future with a combination of various measures, like ongoing fleet renewal, operational measures such as engine washing and infrastructural improvements. Cheers to Lufthansa taking this next step, I will be very interested to see how it works out.
More on the topic:
* Alaska Airlines and Boeing work on BioFuels
* Air New Zealand tries out biofuels
Source: Seattle PI/Lufthansa Image: Thomas Becker
Lufthansa Airbus A340, US Airways Boeing 737, UPS Airbus A310 and two Boeing 727-100's for NASCAR
There are a lot of good places to look at photos of airliners. I can spend hours going through and looking at them. Some of my favorites are those from readers that send in ones they have taken and I really want to be able to share them. If you take photos of airlines and want to share, feel free to email them on over and I might post a few as well.
This one is taken at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) by Drew. You can see a Lufthansa Airbus A340 getting ready to take off, as well as a US Airways Boeing 737 on the left. What’s really cool about this one is you can see two Boeing 727-100’s in the background by the UPS Airbus A310, that are still flying,
Those two Boeing 727-100’s are owned by Jack Roush with NASCAR. They were converted to have 90 seats and used to shuttle NASCAR crew from one race to another. It looks like Roush bought both planes from MGM and they spend quite a bit of time at CLT.
LARGER VERSION
Computer drawing of the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental from Boeing.com
On May 8th, Boeing announced they have started the construction of the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental (747-8I). What the heck is the Intercontinental? It is the passenger version of the Boeing 747-8 Freighter (747-8F) that took flight back in February.
Lufthansa already has 20 orders with 20 additional options. “We are very pleased to see that the production on the 747-8 Intercontinental has begun,” said Nico Buchholz, senior vice president, Corporate Fleet of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. “We are looking forward to welcoming the aircraft in our fleet as it is a component of Lufthansa’s strategy to modernize its fleet and increase environmental stewardship. The 747-8 shows our clear commitment to customer orientation.”
The Boeing 747-8I is 18.3 feet longer than the Boeing 747-400 and can hold 51 more passengers in a three-class configuration. Visually you will be able to tell the new aircraft by the swept wings and larger upper-deck. The new version will have the next generation GEnx-2B engines and a wing design like the Boeing 747-8F, which will make the aircraft more fuel efficient. The Boeing 747-8I will incorporate some of the cool features of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Boeing is hoping the 747-8I will take flight by the end of the year and then deliver by late 2011.
Currently Boeing has 32 orders for the Boeing 747-8I and 76 for the Boeing 747-8F.
Check out Boeing’s image gallery and website for a sneak-peak.
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