A transatlantic flight The first route between London and New York took off this Tuesday, following the tradition of connecting both sides of the Atlantic using the fuel. 100% stable.

British company Virgin Atlantic was in charge of putting the Boeing 787 into the air with what they promised was “sustainable aviation fuel” (SAF), an alternative to fossil-derived jet fuel. Its critics, however, say the deployed SAF does little to reduce the climate impact of the aircraft.

In 2008, Virgin Atlantic and the aircraft manufacturer completed the first commercial SAF test flight on a Boeing 747; However, only now has the Flight 100 project been completed.

Without specifying the flight number or details, the company owned by UK President Richard Branson confirmed that the ship had departed from London’s Heathrow Airport to New York’s JFK.

The company said it was a demonstration of SAF’s capability A safe alternative Produced from fossil fuels and primarily from used cooking oils and animal fats.

The SAF used by Virgin Atlantic is produced from waste materials, a unique dual combination; 88% HEFA (hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids) residual fats and 12% SAK (synthetic kerosene), which is made from vegetable sugar; The rest comes from proteins, oils and vegetable fiber.

“Other technologies like electricity and hydrogen have been around for decades, SAF can now be usedThey said.

In a statement released this Tuesday, Virgin Atlantic says SAF is “the only viable medium-term solution to decarbonizing long-haul aviation.”

Currently, it produces commercial aircraft 2.5% of global carbon emissions Faces a more difficult path to decarbonise than other sectors.

In a section dedicated to SAF on its website, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects this type of biofuel to account for 65% of commercial aviation use by 2050.

During flight, SAF burns like normal jet fuel and produces the same amount of emissions. However, it has a small carbon footprint because it is usually made from plants that absorbed carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere while they were alive.

However, critics have said that the production, processing and transportation of biofuels emit greenhouse gases.

As stated in the network cnn Kate Hewitt, policy director of the Aviation Environment Federation, a UK non-profit that monitors the environmental impact of aviation, Flight 100″ This is another trick What a game changer.”

“A 100% alternative fuel aircraft is not going to change the fact that 99.9% of aviation fuel is fossil fuel and there is no better way to sustainably scale feedstocks,” he said.

While proponents argue that using fuel made from plants offsets aircraft tailpipe emissions, Hewitt added that if the fuel was made from waste products, the carbon dioxide would have been captured anyway, “so that’s not really believed.” There is carbon reduction Related to this fuel,” he noted.

Virgin Atlantic isn’t the only one making fuel. Over the course of a year, Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Imperial College London, University of Sheffield, ICF and the Rocky Mountain Institute collaborated with the UK Department of Transport to achieve this milestone.

“Flight100 demonstrates sustainable aviation fuel,” said Shai Weiss, CEO of Virgin Atlantic. Can be used as a safe alternative and directly from fossil-based jet fuel, is the only viable solution to decarbonizing long-haul aviation.

“It’s taken serious collaboration to get here, and we’re proud to have reached this important milestone, but we have more to do,” Weiss added.

For his part, Virgin Atlantic founder Richard Branson said, “The world will always assume you can’t do anything until you do. The spirit of innovation is to try to show that you can do better for the benefit of everyone.