New Delhi (Sputnik): India's first biofuel-powered aircraft successfully completed its test flight on Monday raising the prospects of early adoption of the sustainable alternative fuel by the country's aviation sector.
The 72-seater Bombardier Q400 (VT-SUI) that took off from the northern hill station of Dehradun landed safely in New Delhi after flawlessly completing the hour-long journey.
Historic day for the country's #aviation and energy sector as India's first #Biofuel-powered flight lands in Delhi, covering the distance between #Dehradun & Delhi; The #Biofuel is developed by Indian Institute of Petroleum pic.twitter.com/nHGRpxEo5W
— Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) August 27, 2018
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"On 10th August, Prime Minister announced the new biofuel policy and today we have successfully implemented it in the aviation sector. It is a big achievement in aviation and clean energy sector," Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said.
Received the first flight powered by #Biofuel at Terminal 2, IGI Airport along with Sh. @nitin_gadkari ji, Sh. @sureshpprabhu ji, Sh. @drharshvardhan ji and Sh. @jayantsinha ji. First time in India a test flight has been flown from Dehradun to New Delhi with blended bio jet fuel. pic.twitter.com/0TsjeiejDS
— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) August 27, 2018
Earlier in the day, the chief minister of Uttarakhand flagged off the flight at Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun.
India tests its first biofuel flight… pic.twitter.com/B3LoTb0qZ5
— Bijendra K Singh (@BijendraKSingh) August 27, 2018
One of the plane's engines had a blend of biofuel (25 percent) and aviation turbine fuel (75 percent), whilst the other ran entirely on aviation turbine fuel.
The biofuel was developed jointly by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Dehradun-based Indian Institute of Petroleum.
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The fuel is made of vegetable oil, sugar, animal fat and waste biomass, and it can directly be used in aircraft without any modifications.
With its first successful biofuel-powered test flight, India has now joined the elite club of nations that have operated flights on alternative energy resources. US and Australia have already tested biofuel-powered aircraft.
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