Chinese oil firm Sinopec is planning to seek an airworthiness certification from the government for an aviation fuel made from waste cooking oil.
The firm has already completed production trials for converting waste oil into aviation kerosene after starting to research aviation biofuels in 2009.
Sinopec’s Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Co is reported to have a capacity of producing 20,000 tons of aviation biofuel from used cooking oil each year.
Air China flew a biofuel test flight in October 2011 using a jatropha-based fuel produced by PetroChina in collaboration with US firm Honeywell UOP.
It used a 50% blend of petroleum-based fuel and Green Jet Fuel made from the inedible plant jatropha in one engine of a Boeing 747-400 aircraft.