The first transatlantic flight takes off from Heathrow Airport using agricultural waste and cooking oil for New York JFK.
The Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is using pure sustainable aviation fuel known as (Saf) which shows โhow we can decarbonise transport.โ
Sir Richard Branson the founder of Virgin, Harper and Virgin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss are amongst the passengers on flight that is not carrying fare-paying travellers.
The Transport Secretary said, โTodayโs 100% Saf-powered flight shows how we can decarbonise transport both now and in the future, cutting lifecycle emissions by 70% and inspiring the next generation of solutions.
โThis government has backed todayโs flight to take off and we will continue to support the UKโs emerging Saf industry as it creates jobs, grows the economy and gets us to jet zero.โ
Harper was asked if the greenest option is not to fly, he told BBC Breakfast, โpeople want to fly and this Government wants to make sure they can continue doing so, but in a way that delivers on our environmental provisions.โ
Sir Richard said, โThe world will always assume something canโt be done, until you do it.
โThe spirit of innovation is getting out there and trying to prove that we can do things better for everyoneโs benefit.
โVirgin Atlantic has been challenging the status quo and pushing the aviation industry to never settle and do better since 1984.โ
Weiss said, โGetting to this point has been more than a year in the making and taken radical collaboration across our consortium partners and Government.
โWeโre committed to using 10% Saf by 2030, but to get there we need the Government to support the creation of a UK Saf industry.
โWe know that if we can make it, we can fly it.โ
Campaign group the Aviation Environment Federation (AEF) policy director Cait Hewitt said: โThe idea that this flight somehow gets us closer to guilt-free flying is a joke.
โSaf represent around 0.1% of aviation fuel globally and will be very hard to scale up sustainably.โ
Hewitt added, โHopefully, weโll have better technological solutions in future but, for now, the only way to cut CO2 from aviation is to fly less.โ
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