February 2008

A cocktail of coconut and babassu oil has been mixed to power a GE engine in the first trials of renewable fuel on a 747 plane. The trial was carried out on a Virgin flight from London to Amsterdam. It's the first in a series of tests planned by airlines to check out the viability of alternative fuels. The oils in this trial were harvested from existing, mature plantations and not rainforest, claims Virgin boss Richard Branson.

The airline and its partners say nuts are not going to be the long-term answer. The future of biofuels is more likely to come from algae grown on sewage than the ingredients in a Barcardi Breezer.

Geek speak – for the latest developments on alternative fuels and their impact on the environment, go to the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels with its catchy web address: cgse.epfl.ch