For the first time in history, a US commercial airline has hit the skies using synthetic jet fuel.  A United Airlines validation flight was conducted today using Rentech’s (RTK) synthetic jet fuel derived from nat gas and converted to liquid fuel through a proprietary process.  The airliner used Rentech fuel in one engine with a 40% mix.  

Late last year, 13 airlines signed an MOU with Rentech for future supply of up to 250 million gallons of its synthetic fuel to be produced at a proposed site in Mississippi.  It’s the only alternative fuel that has been certified by the FAA for use in commercial aviation and today’s test flight is another big step for Rentech.  Also last year, the company landed a deal with 8 airlines for supplies of its fuel to be used in airline ground service transportation at LAX.

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CEO Hunt Ramsbottom commented:  “Today’s successful engineering validation flight is a significant step forward for Rentech and the commercial aviation industry. Rentech is proud to partner with United Airlines to demonstrate the viability of certified synthetic jet fuel as an environmentally superior and economically competitive alternative fuel source that can be produced domestically with U.S. jobs.  This flight, along with the customer agreements we are pursuing with the airlines, validates the considerable market demand for synthetic fuels produced by the Rentech Process. The value of Rentech’s technology lies in its flexibility to use renewable and fossil feedstocks to produce drop-in, certified fuels that are clean-burning and ready for commercial-scale production today.”

Shares of RTK have been moving in the last hour or so and are currently up nearly 10%.  There has been strong support in this stock at around a buck throughout 2010 and it appears it might be ready for another big move in the coming months.  Today’s news is providing a nice catalyst so far.