Whole Travel Blog

Thursday, Continental Airlines announced the results of its January 7 biofuel demonstration flight. Not only was the flight successful, the biofuel showed approximately 1.1% greater fuel efficiency over traditional jet fuel. So, not only was the fuel made from renewable sources, it actually beat traditional fuel outright. This type of fuel is estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60-80% as well.

Flying the greener skies

“We look forward to working with our partners as biofuels go through the certification process, and we hope to see these fuels proceed into commercial quantities in the near future,” said Leah Raney, Continental’s managing director of global environmental affairs. Hopefully it’s not long until we see all jet fuel from sustainable sources.

With the cost of oil at a 16-month low ($67/barrel), both domestic as well as international airlines have decided to slash their fuel surcharges on most flights, a very welcome relief in a still struggling economy.

Some routes, such as that between San Francisco and most major European cities, have seen as much as an 18% decrease from a year ago, while other departure cities, namely those in Germany are choosing not to cut their fuel fees. While this is great news for the travel industry, does this mean that the search for alternative energy will slow down?

Photo by: Flip Barrientos