SpiceJet operates India’s first biojet fuel flight

[Hindustani78]

SpiceJet operates India’s first biojet fuel flight
https://www.thehindu.com/business/I...-first-biojet-fuel-flight/article24790919.ece

New Delhi, August 27, 2018 14:18 IST
Updated: August 27, 2018 14:34 IST

(From left) Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu, Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan after the first flight running on biofuel landed at Delhi Airport terminal on August 27, 2018. | Photo Credit: PTI


The flight was powered with a blend of 75% air turbine fuel (ATF) and 25% biojet fuel, it said.

SpiceJet on Monday operated India’s first test flight powered by biojet fuel, according to the airline.

A Bombardier Q400 aircraft, partially using biojet fuel, took off from Dehradun and landed at the airport in the national capital.

The airline said it successfully operated “India’s first ever biojet fuel flight”.

The flight was powered with a blend of 75% air turbine fuel (ATF) and 25% biojet fuel, it said.

In a release, the airline said the advantage of using biojet fuel as compared to ATF is that it reduces carbon emissions and enhances fuel efficiency.

Made from Jatropha crop, the fuel has been developed by the CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP), Dehradun, SpiceJet said.

Around 20 people, including officials from aviation regulator DGCA and SpiceJet, were in the test flight. The duration of the flight was around 25 minutes, according to an airline executive.

SpiceJet chairman and managing director Ajay Singh said biojet fuel is low cost and helps in significantly reducing carbon emissions.

“It has the potential to reduce our dependence on traditional aviation fuel by up to 50% on every flight and bring down fares,” he said.

Recognised by ASTM
The biojet fuel has been recognised by American Standard Testing Method (ASTM) and meets the specification standards of Pratt & Whitney and Bombardier for commercial application in aircraft.

The Q400 aircraft has 78 seats.

According to global airlines’ body IATA, aviation industry contributes to 2% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions.

IATA has also set out a target for one billion passengers to fly on aircraft using a mix of clean energy and fossil fuels by 2025, the release said.

SpiceJet has a fleet of 36 Boeing 737NG and 22 Bombardier Q400 planes. On an average, it operates 412 flights daily.

 

[Tshering22]

Excellent! This proportion needs to be dramatically increased in terms of total fuel composition so that we achieve our environmental targets for 2022.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Science & Technology
27-August, 2018 19:00 IST
Republic of India’s first biofuel powered flight undertakes maiden voyage.

Biofuel technology developed indigenously by CSIR a game changer: Dr. Harsh Vardhan

A historic flight powered by indigenously produced aviation biofuel based on patented technology of CSIR-IIP Dehradun was flagged off today from Dehradun airport by Uttarakhand CM Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat. The Spicejet flight, featuring a latest generation Q400 aircraft powered by ,was received at Delhi airport by Union Ministers Shri Nitin Gadkari, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Shri Suresh Prabhu and Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shri Jayant Sinha.

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Hon’ble Minister, S&T and Vice President, CSIR on the occasion said that it is a historic day and the biofuel technology is going to be a game changer as the Biojet fuel is greenhouse gas neutral, carbon neutral, reduces air pollution and to cap it ,it would bring down import bill on crude oil.“Commercialization of biofuel promises large-scale employment avenues both in formal and informal sector”, said Dr. Vardhan.

The genesis of this development goes back several years to an Indo-Canadian consortium project from 2010 to 2013 involving CSIR-IIP, Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum, IIT Kanpur and IISc Bangalore, in which research was directed towards the production of Bio-aviation fuel by CSIR-IIP from jatropha oil and its evaluation under various conditions, culminating in a detailed engine test by Pratt and Whitney in Canada that showed fitness for purpose.

Spicejet - as the lead organization for the demonstration flight - and Chhattisgarh Biofuel Development Authority- the supplier of the jatropha oil for the flight, sourced from over 500 farmers, received considerable policy and regulatory support from the MOPNG Working Group on Biofuels and the Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA) in making this flight happen.

With this maiden flight India joins the exclusive club of nations using biofuel in aviation.The use of bio jet fuel, apart from reducing greenhouse gas emissions by about 15 percent and sulfur oxides (SOx) emissions by over 99 percent, is expected to provide indigenous jet fuel supply security, possible cost savings as feedstock availability at farm level scales up, superior engine performance and reduced maintenance cost for the airline operators.