Greentech Lead America: Porter Airlines will use its
Bombardier Q400 turboprop airliners to conduct the first biofuel-powered
revenue flight in Canada.
In February 2012, a Bombardier Q400 turboprop test
aircraft became the first aircraft in Canada to fly on the American Society for
Testing and Materials (ASTM) D7566 bio-derived jet fuel, which was recently
certified.
The Q400 turboprop airliner is the advanced successor to
Bombardier’s Dash 8/Q-Series family of aircraft. The greener, 70- to 80-seat
Q400 aircraft is a large, fast, quiet and fuel-efficient turboprop. It provides
an ideal balance of passenger comfort and operating economics with a reduced
environmental footprint.
The Q400 aircraft uses 30 to 40 percent less fuel and
produces 30 to 40 percent fewer emissions than older jets. Overall, the Q400
aircraft is 15 decibels quieter than ICAO Chapter 4 noise standards.
“We are timing our biofuel-powered flight close to
Earth Day to emphasize the contribution that biofuels are expected to make in
helping the aviation industry meet its targeted reduction in emissions. Q400
and Q400 NextGen aircraft are already among the ‘greenest’ aircraft in the
world and the use of biofuel will make the aircraft even more environmentally
conscious,” said Robert Deluce, president and chief executive officer,
Porter Airlines.
Porter’s Q400 aircraft will utilize a 50/50 blend of
biofuel with Jet A1 fuel. The biofuel portion is derived from the oilseed crop,
Camelina sativa (49 percent) and Brassica carinata (one percent).
Porter has partnered with Targeted Growth Canada, a
producer of the crop of Camelina sativa and Pratt & Whitney Canada, a
manufacturer of the PW150A engines that power the Q400 aircraft for this
biofuel program. Funding for the program is being provided by partners as
well as by Green Aviation Research & Development Network (GARDN).