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Today is a historic day for aviation and for the environment. On November 23rd, 2009, KLM had the first biofuel test flight in the history of aviation. The Boeing 747 will be running on a fuel mixture made up of 50% sustainable bio-fuel and 50% traditional kerosene and only a selected group of passengers will get a chance to fly.

“This is an important step on the road to completely sustainable aviation,” said KLM President & CEO Peter Hartman. “KLM has joined forces with its partners to vigorously stimulate the further development of alternative fuels. In so doing, we need to rely on the input and support of all the relevant parties: the business community, government and society at large.’’

The biofuel that will power the plane will be made entirely out of camelina. Studies have shown that camelina-based fuel reduces carbon emissions by up to 84% when compared to the standard petroleum-based fuels.

KLM along with Air France has been the driving force for innovation in eco-friendly flying. The Dutch side of Worldwide Fund for Nature has voted KLM as its Business Partner of the year for 2009, while KLM-Air France was given the top spot in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which tracks the financial performance of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide.

Here’s a video from the inaugurational flight, as shot by our twitter friend, @klmfan:

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