Alaska Airlines Begins Biofuel Flights Using Renewable Resources

Alaska Airlines on Wednesday began testing bio-fuel powered flights, marking the start to an expensive trial meant to improve the airlines environmental footprint.

Before taking off on their maiden voyages to Washington DC and Portland customers were handed a “Welcome to Greener Skies” flier which explained the company’s new approach to greener flights.

The test program includes 75 trips in which the company is running their test planes on a mixture of regular jet fuel and 20% biofuel that produced from leftover cooking oil.

The biofuel uses as many carbon emissions as traditional jet fuel but is considered a more “green” option because it is created using renewable resources.

The fuel is also far more expensive than traditional jet fuel with a cost of $476,000 for 28,000 gallons or $17 per gallon, six times more expensive than standard jet fuel.

It’s still unclear how much more expensive Alaska Airlines flights will become if the jet fuel is permanently chosen for use given the extremely high price of consumption.

Would you be willing to pay more for your next flight if you knew the jet was a more green option that runs on renewable resource?

[Image via Christopher Parypa / Shutterstock.com]