Lufthansa made first bio-fuel flight

The famous German airline, Lufthansa, became the first airline in the world to launch regular bio-fuel flights between Frankfurt and Hamburg.

The first experimental bio-fuel flight LH013 was made by Lufthansa on July 15, 2011 from Frankfurt to Hamburg. One of the engines of the Airbus 321, which made a unique trip, used a mixture of equal parts of the biosynthetic and traditional kerosene. The second engine of the airliner operated on one hundred percent kerosene.

Experimental fuel flight was the beginning of a six-month flight biofuel test for Lufthansa regular flights. The cost of the Lufthansa project, which main objective is to explore the possibilities of using bio-fuels in the aircrafts, is estimated at more than 6 million euro.

Despite the fact that bio-fuels are almost twice more expensive than traditional kerosene, the economic feasibility of a six-month experiment is, however, the economic effect of using alternative fuels, in particular, the system of quotas on carbon dioxide, which will be introduced in the EU in 2012. According to the preliminary estimates, the use of bio-fuels will allow airlines to reduce the "carbon footprint" up to 80% and significantly save on penalties for excessive emissions of greenhouse gases.

Most of the funds allocated for the experiment will be spent on purchasing bio-fuels. There will also be held a number of engineering and organizational works on implementation of the experimental fuel. Nevertheless, according to Lufthansa, bio-fuel has similar properties as conventional fuel, so considerable resources will be saved by eliminating the need to modify engines and ground fueling infrastructure.

According to the preliminary plan from Lufthansa, in the end of this year it will open up to 28 bio-fuel flights. Using of bio-fuels is also considered by such airlines as Thomson Airways and KLM.