It appears automakers aren’t the only ones interested in flex-fuel vehicles these days.
A Boeing 747 partly powered by vegetable oil performed a successful two-hour test flight on Tuesday, the BBC reports.
Heralded as a technological and ecological “milestone,” the Air New Zealand flight was reportedly the first time a second-generation biofuel – in this case jatropha plant oil – was used in a passenger plane.
Second-generation biofuels can be created using a wide variety of plants, and are generally considered cleaner than traditional biofuels, such as ethanol.
In February 2008, British airline Virgin Atlantic tested fuel in one of its jets that was derived from a blend of Brazilian babassu nuts and coconuts. Continental plans to try out its own biofuel blend in a Boeing 737 on Jan. 7 in Houston.
The International Air Transport Association has set a goal for one-tenth of aviation fuel to come from biofuels by 2017.
Some scientists are concerned, however, that widespread adoption of biofuels could cause environmental and economic harm via increased deforestation and diversion of crops from food to energy use, according to The New York Times.
Jatropha is particularly problematic, Reuters reports, because it can be toxic and yields are unreliable.