CO today demonstrated the use of sustainable biofuel to power a commercial aircraft for the first time ever in North America.

The demonstration flight — which was conducted in partnership with Boeing, GE Aviation/CFM International, and Honeywell’s UOP — marked the first sustainable biofuel demonstration flight by a commercial carrier using a two-engine aircraft, a Boeing 737-800 equipped with CFM International CFM56-7B engines.

“This demonstration flight represents another step in Continental’s ongoing commitment to fuel efficiency and environmental responsibility,” said Larry. “The technical knowledge we gain today will contribute to a wider understanding of the future for transportation fuels.”

The biofuel blend included components derived from algae and jatropha plants, both sustainable, second-generation sources that do not impact food crops or water resources or contribute to deforestation.

The algae oil was provided by Sapphire Energy, and the jatropha oil by Terasol Energy. This is the first time a commercial carrier powered a flight using fuel derived in part from algae.

A CO Boeing 737-800, Aircraft 516, departed from and returned to IAH operating under a specially issued “Experimental” aircraft type certificate, and carried no passengers.

During the flight, which lasted 87 minutes, CO test pilots engaged the aircraft in a number of normal and non-normal flight maneuvers, such as mid-flight engine shutdown and re-start, and power accelerations and decelerations.

A CO propulsion engineer recorded flight data onboard. The flight burned 3,600 pounds of biofuel, consisting of 50 percent biologically derived fuel and 50 percent traditional jet fuel, in the No. 2 engine.

To read the entire news release, go to http://www.continental.com > “About Continental” > “News Releases.”