Society

Private jet makes algae-fuel flight

Jun 30 (NHK) - A private jet that landed in Tokyo's Haneda Airport Tuesday afternoon looked perfectly normal on the outside. What made it special was on the inside: fuel made from used cooking oil and a kind of algae.

The fuel is made by a Japanese venture firm, partly using oils derived from algae called euglena. The firm says it is the first time a private aircraft has flown with it, and is touting it as a step towards a sustainable future.

Euglena President and CEO Izumo Mitsuru said, "We would like to further promote this initiative to help achieve Japan's goal of carbon neutrality by 2050."

The biofuel emits carbon dioxide when it combusts, but the algae it is made from absorb the gas in photosynthesis, which helps reduce the carbon footprint.

The firm plans to establish a large factory by around 2025 to produce 250,000 kiloliters of the fuel a year.

Source: Kyodo

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