Nov 4, 2009, 13:15 GMT
Amsterdam - Dutch KLM will be the first airline to fly a passenger flight using bio-diesel, the airline claimed on Wednesday.
The Boeing 747 flight, carrying a limited number of passengers, will take off on November 23 using a mixture of bio-fuel and conventional kerosene jet oil.
The type of bio-fuel is camelina, a substance extracted from an oil plant. Studies have shown camelina-based jet fuel to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 80 percent.
The new fuel mixture does not require any modifications to the aircraft or engine.
'This is an important step towards an air industry that is free of carbon dioxide emissions,' Chief Executive Office Peter Hartman said.
After the US Navy first tested camelina, Japan Airlines JAL was the first, on January 30 of this year, to fly a Boeing 747-300 aircraft using the bio-diesel on a 90-minute demonstration flight. No passengers were on board, however.
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