Summary

NAME: NTH BIO PLANE 20080224I TAPE: EF08/0215 IN_TIME: 10:32:57:14 DURATION: 00:02:31:02 SOURCES: AP TELEVISION/VIRGIN DATELINE: Schiphol - 24 Feb 2008/ Recent RESTRICTIONS: SHOTLIST VIRGIN ATLANTIC HANDOUT Amsterdam, Netherlands - 24 February 2008 1. Virgin Atlantic's Boeing 747 landing (++MUTE++) London, UK - 24 February 2008 2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Richard Branson, Virgin Atlantic President: "It's an historic day, and we believe that as a result of what's happened today, we can now start developing biofuel for the future that hopefully the whole of Virgin Atlantic can use, and other airlines too. The particular fuel that we'll (be) looking at and working on is algae." VIRGIN ATLANTIC HANDOUT Amsterdam, Netherlands - 24 February 2008 3. Various of 747 being refuelled AP TELEVISION Brussels, Belgium - 22 February 2008 4. Exterior of the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E) 5. Mid of sign 6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Jos Dings, Director of European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E): "I am not saying that all biofuels are bad but I would really like to urge Virgin to look to the cleanest ones, the ones that use as little land as possible. For example from waste streams, for example the future developments in algae are very interesting and also if you plant biofuel on desert land, idle land, degraded land this is of course beneficial for the land in question. But economics often dictate that that is not going to happen. So, that is the problem. The industry currently looks for the cheapest biofuel available and we need to go for the cleanest ones and that is not happening at this point." 7. Various of Dings typing on keyboard STORYLINE The world's first commercial flight powered with biofuel has landed at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. The goal of Sunday's Virgin Atlantic jumbo jet test flight from London to the Netherlands was to show that biofuels can produce less carbon dioxide than normal jet fuels. "It's an historic day, and we believe that as a result of what's happened today, we can now start developing biofuel for the future that hopefully the whole of Virgin Atlantic can use, and other airlines too. The particular fuel that we'll (be) looking at and working on is algae," Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Atlantic's president said. Before the plane took off from London's Heathrow Airport, Branson said what Virgin was trying to prove was that biofuel could be used in current day jet engines at 30,000 feet. Some analysts praised the Boeing 747 test flight as a potentially useful experiment. But others criticised it as a publicity stunt by Branson and noted that scientists are questioning the environmental benefits of biofuels. "I would really like to urge Virgin to look to the cleanest ones, the ones that use as little land as possible," said Jos Dings, Director of European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E). "Future developments in algae are very interesting and also if you plant biofuel on desert land, idle land, degraded land this is of course beneficial for the land in question," Dings told AP Television in Brussels. However, Ding said, "economics often dictate that that is not going to happen. So, that is the problem. The industry currently looks for the cheapest biofuel available and we need to go for the cleanest ones and that is not happening at this point." Virgin Atlantic spokesman Paul Charles predicted biofuel would produce much less CO2 than regular jet fuel, but said it will take weeks to analyze the data from Sunday's flight. It is just the latest example of how the world's airlines are jumping on the environmental bandwagon by trying to find ways of reducing aviation's carbon footprint. These efforts have included everything from finding alternative jet fuels, to developing engines that burn existing fuels more slowly, to changing the way planes land. The experiment by Virgin Atlantic and its partners - Boeing and General Electric - also comes at a time when high oil prices and the US economic slowdown are promoting consolidation in the airline industry. Aircraft engines cause noise pollution and emit gases and particulates that reduce air quality and contribute to global warming and global dimming, where dust and ash from natural and industrial sources block the sun to create a cooling effect. About a year ago, the European Commission said greenhouse gas emissions from aviation account for about 3 percent of the total in the European Union and have increased by 87 percent since 1990 as air travel cheapened. Charles said Virgin's Boeing 747-400 jet and its engines did not have to be redesigned to use an existing biofuel on the one-hour test flight from London's Heathrow Airport to Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam. He said CO2 emissions on a normal flight are generally three times the fuel burned, and that technical engineers on the test flight will take readings and analyze data to estimate its greenhouse gas emissions. The world is currently rushing to develop biofuels, especially ethanol from corn and cellulosic feedstock such as switchgrass and woodchips, as a substitute for gasoline. But recent scientific studies have found that almost all biofuels cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels, if the full emissions costs of producing these alternative fuels are considered. To support biofuel development, a large amount of natural land is being converted to cropland globally. The destruction of natural ecosystems releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere when they are burned and ploughed, and deprives the planet of natural sponges that absorb carbon emissions. In addition, cropland absorbs far less carbon than the rain forests or even scrubland that it replaces. Still, Virgin Atlantic is not the only airline conducting or planning test flights with non-traditional fuels. Earlier this month, an Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger jet, became the first commercial plane to be powered by alternative fuel on a test flight. The superjumbo's Britain-to-France flight was powered with a blend of regular fuel and liquid fuel processed from gas. Air New Zealand also plans next year to join up with Rolls-Royce Group and Boeing to conduct a test flight of a Boeing 747, partly running on biofuel.