KLM lightens its carbon footprint … with cooking oil

Dutch carrier KLM is to power flights between Paris and Amsterdam using recycled cooking oil in a bid to cut carbon emissions.

With air travel currently responsible for around 3 per cent of greenhouse gases, the airline has been looking for a way to make its flights greener. As of September this year, more than 200 of the Paris-Amsterdam KLM flights will be powered by biofuel made from cooking oil.

The move follows advice from the European Union earlier this year, which reminded airlines that they would have to slash carbon emissions by 3 per cent on continental flights by 2012, in order to meet new limits for pollution.

Camiel Eurlings, KLM managing director, confirmed that the KLM fleet of aircraft would not need any changes made to its engines in order to run on the new biofuel. The flights are intended to lower the airlines’ carbon emissions “while having a minimum negative impact on biodiversity and food supply,” he said.

Mr Eurlings also said that he expected authorisation for the biofuel flights to be granted very soon. An Air-France KLM aircraft already completed a successful trial run in the Netherlands using a 50 per cent biofuel mix in late 2009.

(Image: Jon Olav)

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