World's skies are a biofuel Virgin no more

The experiment: Virgin Atlantic achieved an aviation milestone Sunday by flying the first commercial aircraft powered by biofuel, in an effort to show it can produce less carbon dioxide than normal jet fuels. The Boeing 747 made the 90-minute journey from London to Amsterdam, carrying five people -- pilots and technicians, no passengers.

The biofuel: One of the jet's four main fuel tanks was filled with a blend of coconut and babassu oil. Babassu is a palm native to Brazil's Amazon rain forest.

"Virgin Atlantic and its partners are proving that you can find an alternative to traditional jet fuel and fly a plane on new technology such as sustainable biofuel," said British billionaire Richard Branson, Virgin Atlantic's founder and president.

Under analysis: Airline spokesman Paul Charles predicted this biofuel would produce much less carbon dioxide than regular jet fuel, but he said it would take weeks to analyze the data from Sunday's flight.

Previous tests: Robert Mann, an aviation consultant in Port Washington, N.Y., said there's no doubt biofuel is feasible, noting that the Air Force has already flown a B-52 using it.

Rolls-Royce Group has said it will partner with Air New Zealand for biofuel trials sometime next year, he added.

Food or fuel: Some worry of the unintended consequences of using biofuels from crop resources. "Obviously a concern is that if a food-based resource, such as corn, is used, we need to find cost-efficient, environmentally responsible ways to increase production without reducing the output available for human food consumption," said Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst at San Francisco-based Forrester Research.

Wrong focus: One environmental group, Friends of the Earth, said airlines should instead work to reduce air travel. "Even if every plane leaving the [United Kingdom] was able to run on biofuels tomorrow, any carbon savings would be wiped out in less than 10 years by the rapid growth of the aviation industry," it said.