Virgin Atlantic Biofuel Flight

A Carbon Footprint Step Forward, Or Not?

I think one notable point can be made from the story that has been picked up be every news agency around the globe today – Virgin Atlantic and Sir Richard Branson make great headlines.

The story is, of course, that a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 has made a test flight from London to Amsterdam powered by biofuel. At least, that’s the headline. The reality is that the plane contained a 20% biofuel mix in one of its four main fuel tanks. The biofuel was made from a mixture of coconut and babassu oil.

Sir Richard Branson, in his statement to the media (yeah, surprise, surprise, Branson talking to the media, wonders never cease) said, “The demonstration flight will give us crucial knowledge that we can use to dramatically reduce our carbon footprint.”

Colour me unimpressed because herein lies the problem. The whole biofuel continues to rage over whether biofuel actually makes any difference at all in terms of lowering carbon emission and reducing the carbon footprint of a company.

Virgin, in using coconut and babassu oil have taken the issue of using potential food source and food crops out of the equation, but studies still suggest that clearing land for these crops can generate more carbon emissions than the savings made out the other end.

Biofuels still have a long way to go before the claim that using some in a test flight will lead us towards cleaner flying has wings. Great marketing for Virgin though and considering the guy making the pretty speeches after the demonstration and the frenzy of news coverage…well, I’d just say mission accomplished.



As for the carbon footprint, I think it might be sticking around at Virgin for a little while longer.