In late December, Air New Zealand conducted a two-hour test flight that used a biofuel blend of 50:50 jatropha oil and Jet A1 fuel to power one of its 747-400 Rolls-Royce RB211 engines. In early January, a Continental Airlines 737-800 flew for an hour-and-a-half with an engine fueled by a combination of jatropha oil and algae oil.

Success of the tests is significant in that they present truly viable alternatives to present fuels with their higher CO2 discharges. In fact, the production processes for of biomass feedstocks is expected to be licensed by the middle of this year, according to one of the partners in both of the test flights. According to reports, it’s hoped that large-scale commercial production could be possible as early as 2012, which is in line with Air New Zealand’s goal of using the fuel in 10% of its domestic fleet.

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