Bombardier Q400 completes biofuel-powered revenue flight

TORONTO, Canada, 19 April 2012. Porter Airlines conducted a biofuel-powered revenue flight in Canada. In the conclusion to a test program that was launched in 2010, the airline flew one of its Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft from its base at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport to Ottawa using a 50/50 blend of biofuel and Jet A1 fuel in one of its engines.

The fuel was certified to the new American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D7566/D1655 standard and the biofuel used was derived from the oilseed crops, Camelina sativa and Brassica carinata. The aircraft’s other engine was powered by Jet A1 fuel.

This is the final step in a two-year project whose key members are Targeted Growth, Bombardier Aerospace, Pratt and Whitney Canada, and Porter Airlines. Funding for the biofuel test program was provided by the key partners, as well as by Business-Led Networks of Centers of Excellence (BL-NCE) through the Green Aviation Research & Development Network (GARDN).

Additional support to the program was provided by Agrisoma Biosciences Inc., which grew the carinata and produced the carinata bio-oil; Sustainable Oils, which crushed the camelina to make the camelina bio-oil; Honeywell UOP, which converted the bio-oils into the bio-derived jet fuel to meet the D7566 standard; and SkyNRG who were responsible for logistics and blending meeting the D1655 specification.

On February 9, 2012, in preparation for Porter’s revenue flight, Bombardier flew a Q400 turboprop test aircraft on the ASTM D7566/D1655 bio-derived jet fuel.