SpiceJet’s biofuel airplane, a Bombardier Q400 flew from Dehradun to Delhi.
Spicejet’s biofuel airplane created history when the Bombardier Q400 took a flight to Delhi from Dehradun. This was a test flight and it lasted around 45 minutes. Interestingly, this was the first time when any airline in India used biofuel for any flight. A mixture of 25% biofuel with 75% aviation turbine fuel (ATF) was used to power the right engine of the airplane.
The biofuel used for the SpiceJet Bombardier Q400 airplane was prepared by CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun from the Jatropha plant. A total of 330 kg biofuel was produced for the flight. Recognised by American Standard Testing Method (ASTM), the biofuel meets required specification set by the Pratt & Whitney, which made the engine of the Bombardier Q400.
The SpiceJet biofuel powered airplane made a milestone flight, because India is thriving towards greener mobility in coming years. Using biofuel for vehicles on land has been a long considered issue, but for airplanes is not common in India. Now, with the benchmark set, SpiceJet could thrive for more in future. Indian government too is hopeful that the usage of biofuel will increase in coming future. Apart from pushing the greener mobility, the step will also benefit farmers and reduce oil imports from foreign countries helping country’s economy.
While this time, the biofuel was used partially to power the Bombardier Q400’s Pratt & Whitney engine, we can expect the airline repeat the move in future and that too with increased amount of the greener fuel. Indian aviation industry has been growing faster than ever. With the industry growing bigger every year, there’s a huge growth potential for the biofuel powered airplanes in coming days. However, there’s no official announcement from any airline regarding the usage of biofuel for their airplanes, the scenario is expected to change soon.
