Boeing and Air China to Test Commercial Jet Biofuel

Boeing and Air China have decided to jointly test a commercial jet biofuel in China, produced from a locally grown plant, by the middle of 2011.

Boeing executive Al Bryant said the China demonstration flight, expected to be conducted by May or June next year, would be Boeing’s sixth such demonstration flight using a biofuel.

During the test flight, the biofuel used will be based on jatropha, a thorny wild green shrub that grows in the hot climates of Latin America and Africa.

The biofuel is expected to be supplied by Chinese oil company PetroChina, which grows jatropha in southern China for aviation use, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In 2010, Boeing opened a joint research laboratory in Qingdao with a Chinese Government research institute for conducting research and development of algae-based aviation biofuels.