United Airlines successfully flew from Los Angeles (LAX) to San Francisco (SFO) using a blend of regular jet fuel and specially-made biofuel last month. The biofuel, more or less made from garbage, was blended in a 30 to 70 ratio with the jet fuel, will help the airline reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Other airlines have experimented with biofuels like ethanol and algae-based fuels, but United is the first American carrier to use alternative fuel regularly. And United says this successful flight will take the project from the experimental stage to use in regular commercial operations.

United’s goal is to use biofuel mixtures on all flights operating out of LAX, but this will take a while to implement. United has committed to buying 15 million gallons of biofuel from company AltAir over the next three years.

Alternative fuels gained traction over the past few years, but recently low prices on oil have slowed the momentum toward these innovations. Still, oil prices could always go up, so this seems a wise move on United’s part.