KLM to Run Planes on Cooking Oil

by Naharnet Newsdesk 23 June 2011, 13:11

Dutch airline KLM announced on Wednesday that it will use a biofuel generated from used cooking oil to power more than 200 commercial flights between Paris and Amsterdam starting in September.

"There will be 50 percent traditional kerosene and 50 percent biofuel extracted from used cooking oil," KLM spokesman Gedi Schrijver told Agence France Presse, adding that KLM is the first airline to use this type of fuel in commercial flights.

The company said in a statement that using the fuel involved no technical changes to its aircraft.

"All biofuels used by KLM also have to meet precisely the same technical specifications as traditional kerosene and must not require any adjustments to aircraft engines or infrastructure," the statement said.

Made by U.S. company Dynamic Fuels, the bio-kerosene is produced primarily from vegetable cooking oil that comes from restaurants.

In its statement, KLM noted that "the costs of biofuels need to come down substantially and permanently," before the company could contemplate using "100 percent sustainable energy."

But, KLM said, using the hybrid fuel in 200 flights is "another important step in aviation sustainability."

Source: Agence France Presse

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