<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16788" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<H5><B><FONT size=+1>Air New Zealand Jet Flies on Jatropha
Biofuel</FONT></B></H5><B>AUCKLAND, New Zealand</B>, December 30, 2008 (ENS) - A
passenger jet with one of its four engines running on a biofuel blend today
completed the world's first commercial aviation test flight to test a biofuel
made from jatropha, Air New Zealand said.
<P></P>
<P>The two hour Air New Zealand test flight was powered by a second-generation
biofuel made from the seeds of the jatropha plant that could reduce emissions
and cut costs. The flight was the first to use jatropha jatropha seed oil as
part of a biofuel mix. </P>
<TABLE width=300 align=left border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD><IMG height=196
src="http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2008/20081230_airnzplane.jpg"
width=300></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD>
<H5>Air New Zealand test plane <FONT size=-2>(Photo courtesy Air New
Zealand)</FONT> </H5></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P>The test flight took off from Auckland airport this morning with a biofuel
blend of 50:50 jatropha and Jet A1 fuel powering one of the Air New Zealand
Boeing 747-400's Rolls-Royce RB211 engines. </P>
<P>Pilot in command, Air New Zealand 747 Fleet Manager Captain Keith Pattie and
his crew flew out over the wider Hauraki Gulf area. </P>
<P>After a full-power takeoff and ascent to 35,000 feet, they undertook a number
of fuel tests confirming and measuring the performance of the engine and fuel
systems at various altitudes and under a variety of operating conditions. </P>
<P>Air New Zealand Chief Executive Rob Fyfe called the flight "a milestone for
the airline and commercial aviation." </P>
<P>"Today we stand at the earliest stages of sustainable fuel development and an
important moment in aviation history," said Fyfe. </P>
<P>The test flight was a joint initiative with partners Boeing, Rolls-Royce and
Honeywell's UOP in a drive for more sustainable air travel for future
generations, said the airline in a statement. </P>
<TABLE width=200 align=right border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD><IMG height=148
src="http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2008/20081230_jatropha.jpg"
width=200></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD>
<H5>Jatropha seed pods <FONT size=-2>(Photo courtesy Air New
Zealand)</FONT> </H5></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P>Jatropha is a plant that produces seeds that contain inedible lipid oil that
is used to produce the fuel. Each seed produces 30-40 percent of its mass in oil
and jatropha can be grown in a range of difficult conditions, including arid and
otherwise non-arable areas, leaving prime areas available for food crops.</P>
<P>Air New Zealand and its partners have been non-negotiable about the three
criteria any environmentally sustainable fuel must meet for the test flight
program. </P>
<P>First, the fuel source must be environmentally sustainable and not compete
with existing food resources. </P>
<P>Second, the fuel must be a drop-in replacement for traditional jet fuel and
technically be at least as good as the product used today. </P>
<P>Finally, it should be cost competitive with existing fuel supplies and be
readily available. </P>
<P>The jatropha used on Tuesday's flight was grown in Malawi, Mozambique and
Tanzania, the airline said. The criteria for sourcing the jatropha oil required
that the land was neither forest land nor virgin grassland within the previous
two decades. </P>
<TABLE width=200 align=left border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD><IMG height=142
src="http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2008/20081230_morganoil.jpg"
width=200></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD>
<H5>Air New Zealand's Capt. David Morgan with vials of jatropha oil and
Air New Zealand's biofuel blend. <FONT size=-2>(Photo courtesy Air New
Zealand)</FONT> </H5></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P>Jatropha grows on poor soil and in arid climates not suitable for most food
crops. The jatropha farms that grew the seeds for this test flight are rain-fed
and not mechanically irrigated.</P>
<P>The test flight partners engaged Terasol Energy, a leader in sustainable
jatropha development projects, to independently source and certify that the
jatropha-based fuel for the flight met all sustainability criteria. </P>
<P>Once received from Terasol Energy, the jatropha oil was refined through a
collaborative effort between Air New Zealand, Boeing and refining technology
developer UOP. The process utilized UOP technology to produce jet fuel that can
serve as a direct replacement for traditional petroleum jet fuel. </P>
<P>Air New Zealand aims to meet 10 percent of its fuel needs through sustainable
biofuel by 2013. </P>
<P>In February, Virgin Atlantic was the first airline to test a commercial
aircraft on a biofuel blend, using a 20 percent mixture of coconut oil and
babassu oils in one of its four engines. </P>
<P>In January, two more airlines will test their biofuel blends. Continental
Airlines on January 7 will conduct a test flight powered by a blend involving
algae and jatropha. The flight will be the first biofuel flight by a commercial
carrier using algae as a fuel source, the first using a two-engine aircraft, and
the first biofuel demonstration flight of a U.S. commercial airliner. </P>
<P>On January 30, Japan Airlines is planning a test flight from Tokyo using a
fuel based on the camelina oilseed as a way to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
<P align=center><FONT face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size=-1>Copyright
Environment News Service (ENS) 2008. All rights reserved.</FONT>
</P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>