Virgin Atlantic launches first transcontinental flight fueled by 100% renewable resources

The British airline “Virgin Atlantic” has become the first in the world to make an intercontinental flight using aviation fuel produced from 100% renewable resources – the company’s Boeing 787 airliner flew from London to New York, the airport named after John Kennedy in the east of the US capital.

So-called sustainable aviation fuel can be produced from a variety of sources, including crops, household waste and used cooking oils. Until now, commercial flights were allowed using 50% blends of such fuel. “This is not a zero-emission flight, but it clearly indicates that we have significant leverage and opportunities to tangibly reduce harmful emissions in aviation,” in an interview Sky News said Holly Boyd-Boland, Vice President of Corporate Development at Virgin Atlantic.

Airlines have high hopes for this type of fuel, as it would reduce harmful emissions from the industry by around 70%, improving the overall situation in aviation. For now, zero-emission aviation, especially commercial, intercontinental flights, is quite a distant future, and current batteries and hydrogen fuel cells do not allow it.

In order to use the sustainable aviation fuel, aircraft do not need to be modified and do not require engines specially designed for this fuel. There is one very important problem here – this fuel is currently produced in small quantities and it is three to five times more expensive than ordinary aviation fuel.

For the specific flight, 85% of the fuel was obtained using recycled cooking oils, but in general, around 50 tons of fuel must be filled in the plane for such a flight. British airlines, as well as fuel manufacturers, say that the country needs to support more projects in order to achieve the goals set, namely to increase the production of such fuel and ensure that in 2030, 10% of flights use sustainable aviation fuel, and in 2050, “Jet Zero” is met. ” strategy objectives.

Environmental activists, as usual, are not good at anything and in their view the best way to reduce emissions is to not fly at all. Although there is undeniably some truth in it, other solutions must be sought.