Posted AT 11:42 PM EDT on 24/02/08
Wild green yonder? A 747 fuelled partly by coconuts
Billionaire businessman Sir Richard Branson unveiled what he called the start of a new, cleaner, era for the airline industry Sunday: a flight partly fuelled by a clear liquid derived from coconuts and the Amazonian babassu tree.
The London-to-Amsterdam flight by a Virgin Atlantic 747 jumbo jet was powered by three tanks filled with standard jet fuel and a fourth tank carrying a blend of 80 per cent standard fuel and 20 per cent oil from the coconut and Amazon babassu nut.
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