Did you know that innovator Henry Ford designed cars to run on biofuels?

This week, a biofuel first for the airline industry: A Virgin Atlantic jumbo jet flew between London’s Heathrow and Amsterdam using fuel derived from a mixture of Brazilian babassu nuts and coconuts!

Biofuels are any fuels made from living things, and we often think of crops like corn as the main source. Earlier this month, Airbus tested another alternative fuel - a synthetic mix of gas-to-liquid.

The babassu tree, native to Brazil, and the coconuts did not compete with staple food sources and came from existing mature plantations. Both products are commonly used in cosmetics and household paper products.

Virgin’s Boeing 747 had one of its four engines connected to an independent biofuel tank that it said could provide 20 percent of the engine’s power. The three other engines were capable of powering the plane on conventional fuel had there been a problem.

This flight marks a vital breakthrough for the entire airline industry. But it will take some time and research before your next commercial flight goes biofuel green.

The technology is still being developed by companies GE and Boeing, but Virgin believes airlines could routinely be flying on plant power within 10 years.