“India’s first ever biojet fuel flight” from Dehradun to Delhi

In a first in India, SpiceJet operates biofuel flight

The duration of the Dehradun-Delhi flight was around 25 minutes. Around 20 people, including officials from aviation regulator DGCA and SpiceJet, were in the test flight

Budget carrier SpiceJet today successfully operated “India’s first ever biojet fuel flight”. A Bombardier Q400 aircraft, partially using biojet fuel, took off from Dehradun and landed at the airport in the national capital. The SpiceJet flight was powered with a blend of 75% air turbine fuel (ATF) and 25% biojet fuel, it said. SpiceJet in a statement said the advantage of using biojet fuel as compared to ATF is that it reduces carbon emissions and enhances fuel efficiency. Made from Jatropha crop, the fuel has been developed by the CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP), Dehradun, SpiceJet said.
Around 20 people, including officials from aviation regulator DGCA and SpiceJet, were in the test flight. The duration of the flight was around 25 minutes, according to an airline executive.
SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said biojet fuel is low cost and helps in significantly reducing carbon emissions.
“It has the potential to reduce our dependence on traditional aviation fuel by up to 50% on every flight and bring down fares,” he said.
The biojet fuel has been recognised by American Standard Testing Method (ASTM) and meets the specification standards of Pratt & Whitney and Bombardier for commercial application in aircraft.
The Q400 aircraft has 78 seats.
According to global airlines’ body IATA, aviation industry contributes to 2% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions. IATA has also set out a target for one billion passengers to fly on aircraft using a mix of clean energy and fossil fuels by 2025, the release said.
SpiceJet has a fleet of 36 Boeing 737NG and 22 Bombardier Q400 planes. On an average, it operates 412 flights daily.
Today in the Indian aviation industry many executives are worried over the rising fuel costs and have demanded the government bring Aviation Turbine Fuel under GST.
Vistara’s chief strategy and commercial officer Sanjiv Kapoor said in a tweet said that aviation in India is not for the “weak-kneed” while expressing concern over the domestic aviation fuel rates.
“Domestic aviation fuel (ATF) rates ex-DEL are now 97% higher (ie almost double) the low it hit in Feb 2016, and less than 10% short of highest ever it hit in 2014. Average fares are however down at least 40% from 2014! Aviation in India not an industry for the weak-kneed,” he said.
मुख्यमंत्री श्री Trivendra Singh Rawat ने जौलीग्रांट एयरपोर्ट पर जैव ईंधन से उड़ान भरने वाले देश के पहले विमान Spice Jet को फ्लैग ऑफ किया। फ्लैग ऑफ के बाद विमान ने दिल्ली के लिए उड़ान भरी। यह बायोफ्यूल जैट्रोफा के तेल एवं हाइड्रोजन के मिश्रण से बनाया गया है। इसके लिए आईआईपी में प्लांट लगाया गया है। संस्थान में बायोजेट फ्यूल तैयार किया जा रहा है। छत्तीसगढ़ से बायोफ्यूल डेवलपमेंट अथॉरिटी के जरिये जैट्रोफा का बीज खरीदा गया है। इससे पूर्व जैव ईंधन से चलने वाले इस Spice Jet का परीक्षण भी किया था। बताया गया कि अमेरिका और कनाडा जैसे देशों में कमर्शियल विमान पहले से ही जैव ईंधन से उड़ान भर चुके हैं

 

A historic flight powered by indigenously produced aviation biofuel based on patented technology of CSIR-IIP Dehradun was flagged off today from Dehradun airport by Uttarakhand CM Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat. The Spicejet flight, featuring a latest generation Q400 aircraft powered by ,was received at Delhi airport by Union Ministers Shri Nitin Gadkari, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Shri Suresh Prabhu and Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shri Jayant Sinha.
Dr Harsh Vardhan, Hon’ble Minister, S&T and Vice President, CSIR on the occasion said that it is a historic day and the biofuel technology is going to be a game changer as the Biojet fuel is greenhouse gas neutral, carbon neutral, reduces air pollution and to cap it ,it would bring down import bill on crude oil.“Commercialization of biofuel promises large-scale employment avenues both in formal and informal sector”, said Dr. Vardhan.
The genesis of this development goes back several years to an Indo-Canadian consortium project from 2010 to 2013 involving CSIR-IIP, Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum, IIT Kanpur and IISc Bangalore, in which research was directed towards the production of Bio-aviation fuel by CSIR-IIP from jatropha oil and its evaluation under various conditions, culminating in a detailed engine test by Pratt and Whitney in Canada that showed fitness for purpose.
Spicejet – as the lead organization for the demonstration flight – and Chhattisgarh Biofuel Development Authority- the supplier of the jatropha oil for the flight, sourced from over 500 farmers, received considerable policy and regulatory support from the MOPNG Working Group on Biofuels and the Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA) in making this flight happen.

With this maiden flight India joins the exclusive club of nations using biofuel in aviation.The use of bio jet fuel, apart from reducing greenhouse gas emissions by about 15 percent and sulfur oxides (SOx) emissions by over 99 percent, is expected to provide indigenous jet fuel supply security, possible cost savings as feedstock availability at farm level scales up, superior engine performance and reduced maintenance cost for the airline operators.

देश का पहला जैव ईंधन से चलने वाले विमान की टेस्ट फ्लाइट कामयाब हो गई। रविवार को जौलीग्रांट एयरपोर्ट पर यह विमान उड़ाकर देखा गया। अब दूसरा ट्रायल सोमवार को दस मिनट का होगा। इसके बाद यह विमान सीधे दिल्ली की उड़ान भर लेगा।

आईआईपी के वैज्ञानिकों द्वारा तैयार बायोफ्यूल से देश का पहला विमान सोमवार को उड़ान भरेगा। जौलीग्रांट एयरपोर्ट पर सोमवार को केंद्र सरकार के अधिकारियों के साथ ही तमाम वैज्ञानिक भी इन ऐतिहासिक लम्हों के साक्षी बनेंगे। इसके लिए रविवार को टेस्ट फ्लाइट की गई। जौलीग्रांट एयरपोर्ट के निदेशक विनोद शर्मा ने बताया कि स्पाइसजेट के इस विमान को सोमवार को दिल्ली रवाना किया जाएगा।
देश का पहला जैव ईंधन से चलने वाले विमान की टेस्ट फ्लाइट कामयाब हो गई। रविवार को जौलीग्रांट एयरपोर्ट पर यह विमान उड़ाकर देखा गया। अब दूसरा ट्रायल सोमवार को दस मिनट का होगा। इसके बाद यह विमान सीधे दिल्ली की उड़ान भर लेगा।

आईआईपी के वैज्ञानिकों द्वारा तैयार बायोफ्यूल से देश का पहला विमान सोमवार को उड़ान भरेगा। जौलीग्रांट एयरपोर्ट पर सोमवार को केंद्र सरकार के अधिकारियों के साथ ही तमाम वैज्ञानिक भी इन ऐतिहासिक लम्हों के साक्षी बनेंगे। इसके लिए रविवार को टेस्ट फ्लाइट की गई। जौलीग्रांट एयरपोर्ट के निदेशक विनोद शर्मा ने बताया कि स्पाइसजेट के इस विमान को सोमवार को दिल्ली रवाना किया जाएगा।