Frying High: This Airplane Runs On Cooking Oil

FinnAir has recently found a new, more environmentally sound alternative to traditional jet fuel: recycled cooking oil. Not just for deep-frying anymore, the Finnish airlines recently flew an airplane from Helsinki, Finland to New York (an 8.5 hour flight, normally), that ran entirely on a combination of traditional jet fuel and cooking oil. The newest innovation in airplane fuel was recently presented at last month's United Nations Climate Summit.

"We wanted to send a message to the UN and show that biofuel is a serious and credible alternative that can concretely reduce greenhouse gas emissions," Kati Ihamäki, Finnair's vice president of sustainable development, told Forbes.com.

This isn't the first time a jet has crossed the Atlantic on some creative fuel sources; in 2011, a Boeing 747 made the trip on a mixture of kerosene and camelina biofuel (a sustainable energy alternative), and in 2012, AirCanada flew a plane on 100-percent sustainable biofuel made from a non-edible oilseed crop known as Ethiopian mustard.

Sadly, lower oil prices wouldn't necessarily contribute to lower-priced flights. 

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Joanna Fantozzi is an Associate Editor with The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @JoannaFantozzi