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The countdown has officially begun.  December 3rd is just a few weeks away and on that day, history will be made.  The world’s first commercial flight powered by bio-fuel will fly, and it is Air New Zealand that is behind the wheel, er, stick.

Personally, this is probably the coolest news I could have possibly woken up to on a Monday morning.  It is no secret that for a long, long time, air travel has been one of the largest and most horrendous offenders on the list of global warming contributors.  This, if successful, could be one large step towards a future where that reality is much, much different.  According to reports, everything should go off without any issues at all, as the fuel has been specially tested to work.  The article mentioned,

“Laboratory testing showed the final blend has excellent properties meeting, and in many cases exceeding, the stringent technical requirements for fuels used in civil and defence aircraft. The blended fuel therefore meets the essential requirement of being a ‘drop-in’ fuel, meaning its properties will be virtually indistinguishable from conventional Jet A1 fuel, which is used in commercial aviation today.”

My fingers are crossed, the countdown has begun and I can’t wait to see how things turn out.  Check out Air New Zealand’s official press release, they have plenty to say, and plenty to be proud of.

Image via Wikipedia

Move over Germany because by 2012 you’ll officially be tossed off the top of the throne.  That’s right folks, by 2012 the United States will officially be the single largest consumer of biodiesel in the entire world.  Early estimates claim that the U.S. will be responsible for 19% of all purchase and consumption, easily placing it atop all other countries.

Currently, the biodiesel industry is seeing huge grown in the U.S. in both production and consumption.  It has grown “an average of 50% each year for the past 5 years and even saw triple digit grown in 2006.”  Wow.  As mentioned, Germany is the current country leader of biodiesel at 30% of the world’s market, but that number is in decline as other countries are on the rise.

As mentioned in the article I just read, something that has to be kept in mind is that without tax exemptions and political support, biodiesel might have a rocky future.  Production costs of biodiesel is currently much higher than that of regular diesel and so without those two things, the widespread adoption of such a great technology might be a bit slow and underdeveloped.  Clearly biodiesel is a tricky industry as it also directly affects food prices around the country.  As the article mentions,

“…the biofuel movement may be becoming its own worst enemy. As more food acres are used to grow fuel and as more environment-damaging farming practices are used to keep up with the demand, the price of food rises. As the world food bank becomes more expensive, governments may be more likely to cut biofuel targets and less likely to offer tax incentives.”