Continental tests biofuel in bid to cut pollution

HOUSTON -- Continental Airlines conducted a demonstration flight Wednesday using biofuel, the first such test in the U.S. with a commercial jet, as the industry experiments with ways to curb pollution.

A fuel blend made from algae and jatropha scrub plants powered the unmodified twin-engine Boeing 737-800. The flight, from George Bush Intercontinental Airport, lasted about 90 minutes.

"It all went according to plan," said David Messing, a Continental spokesman. "The initial observations are that there's no difference in terms of the performance of the airplane."

The test by Houston-based Continental, the fourth-largest U.S. airline, is a step toward the International Air Transport Association's goal of having member carriers use 10 percent alternative fuels by 2017 to reduce global warming. The European Union will cap airline carbon-dioxide emissions beginning in 2012. Aviation accounts for about 2 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, IATA estimates.

U.S. carriers are testing alternative fuels after prices for traditional jet kerosene, which is derived from crude oil, surged to a record $4.36 a gallon in July. Jet-fuel prices have since collapsed about 60 percent.

Airline trials with biofuels began in February with a test by Virgin Atlantic. Last month, Air New Zealand flew a Boeing 747-400 that used a 50-50 blend of jatropha oil and conventional fuel in one of the jumbo jet's four engines.