Audio By Carbonatix
It's huge, it's wide, and it's potentially a lot more sustainable.
The Airbus A380, a behemoth of the skies, has completed a trial flight powered on cooking oil.
The test airplane completed a three-hour flight from Blagnac Airport in Toulouse -- Airbus' French headquarters -- on 25 March.
It was powered by Sustainable Aviation Fuel, or SAF -- predominantly made of used cooking oil and waste fats -- and operating on a single Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine.
Airbus then followed up with a second A380 flight, using the same cooking oil fuel, on March 29, flying from Toulouse to Nice.
The second flight was to monitor SAF use during take-off and landing. The fuel used was supplied by TotalEnergies, a company based in France's Normandy region.
It was made from Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA), which is free of both aromatics and sulfur.
Airbus has been testing the use of SAF-powered flights for the last year, with an A350 being tested in March 2021, and an A319neo single-aisle aircraft flying on cooking oil in October.
The company hopes to get its aircraft certified to fly on SAF by the end of the decade. Currently, Airbus aircraft can be powered by up to 50% SAF, blended with traditional kerosene.
Latest Stories
-
Ghana needs a law to sustain constitutional reforms – CDD-Ghana
3 hours -
COVID fumigation audit: Auditor-General has a lot of questions to answer – Akwatia MP
3 hours -
Stranded Ghanaian medical graduates in Cuba appeal to Mahama for immediate return
3 hours -
GNFS contains fire outbreak at Teshie Lekma Road near Lekma Hospital
9 hours -
Samia Nkrumah rejects the narrative that Ghanaians were happy after Nkrumah’s overthrow
10 hours -
A Mother’s pain: Tribute by Ivan Baidoo’s mother
11 hours -
‘Forgive us for staying away’ — Samia Nkrumah leads family back to Nkroful, pledges to preserve Nkrumah’s legacy
11 hours -
Ernest Nuamah scores twice as Lyon beat Rennes
11 hours -
‘My dear Ivan’ – A father’s tribute to a son tragically killed
11 hours -
GNPC Explorco advances Voltaian Basin drilling preparations with 13.5km access road
11 hours -
Cabinet approves facility manager for Borteyman Sports Complex – Kofi Adams
12 hours -
Sanitation is improving; critics may be ‘living in another world’ – Salaga South MP replies Bekwai MP
12 hours -
Government must do more to tackle sanitation crisis – Bekwai MP
12 hours -
World Cleanup Day: GFF begins sanitation education in local communities
12 hours -
EU Ambassador, IGP discuss stronger cooperation on policing and security
12 hours