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Regularly scheduled United Airlines flights between Los Angeles and San Francisco will be fueled by a blend of 30 percent biofuel and 70 percent traditional fuel, reducing an estimated 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions compared with regular fuel. United says it is "the first U.S. airline to begin use of commercial-scale volumes of sustainable aviation biofuel for regularly scheduled flights."

Brazilian airline GOL completed its first international commercial flight using farnesane, a biofuel made from sugarcane that reportedly has an 80% lower carbon footprint than traditional fuels. Farnesane was developed by Total and biofuel company Amyris with support from Boeing.

The Boeing ecoDemonstrator 787 has begun flight testing more than 25 new technologies aimed at improving aviation's environmental performance through every phase of flight, according to a recent announcement. The Boeing ecoDemonstrator Program accelerates the testing, refinement and use of new technologies and methods that can improve efficiency and reduce noise.

The poor air quality on Dec. 6 also caused the Shanghai government to issue the highest level of public health warning as the Chinese city's pollution index ranged between 23 times and 31 times the recommended levels.

n what has been hailed as a far-reaching victory for global shark conservation, Air China has become the first airline in mainland China to ban shark fin cargo on its flights. The airline, which is headquartered in Beijing, announced the ban on Friday. "We were one of the first airlines in China to raise the awareness of the unsustainability of the global shark trade," says a message on the carrier's website. "We understand the community's desire to promote responsible and sustainable marine sourcing practices, and this remains important to Air China Cargo's overall sustainable development goals."

Solar Impulse 2 touched down in Abu Dhabi today, becoming the first fuel-free plane to successfully circumnavigate the globe. 

NASA, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the International Forum of Aviation Research are planning their first joint research flights to investigate alternative fuels for aviation.

A movement is afoot to help cosmopolitan species thrive, with help from surveys and tools like i-Tree and eBird.

European lawmakers are poised to sign off on a law that would allow airlines to avoid paying carbon fees for long-haul flights terminating in Europe. The move disappointed greens, who said lawmakers had secured little beyond vague promises of future action in exchange for the move. "European governments have conceded again to international pressure without getting anything meaningful in return," said transport activist Bill Hemmings

Next year's World Cup in Brazil will cause the emission of 2.72 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, according to a FIFA report -- nearly twice as much as the 2010 tournament. The organization plans to offset all of the emissions it causes directly, plus a portion of the emissions caused by fans' flights to the games

The recycling industry is wasteful and ineffectual, and it will prove neither economically nor environmentally sustainable, writes John Tierney. You'd have to recycle 100,000 plastic bottles to offset the emissions from a single business-class transatlantic flight, and you probably wouldn't turn a profit in the process, Tierney notes. "How can you build a sustainable city with a strategy that can't even sustain itself?" he asks.