Harbor Air’s Electric-Powered Commercial Airplane Takes Off, Makes History By Dan Catchpole, article in Fortune, December 10, 2019 <https://fortune.com/2019/12/10/electric-powered-commercial-airplane-makes-history/> For a sci-fi airplane, the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver looks nothing like the future: stubby wings, a burly fuselage and two fat pontoons. It first flew in 1947. Nonetheless, when a Beaver lifted off from Vancouver Harbour Tuesday morning, it signaled …
Norway’s plan for a fleet of electric planes
Avinor, the public operator of Norwegian airports, “aims to be the first in the world” to make the switch to electric air transport, chief executive Dag Falk-Petersen said. “We think that all flights lasting up to 1.5 hours can be flown by aircraft that are entirely electric,” he said, noting that would cover all domestic flights and those to neighbouring …
Nearly HALF of all flights are deemed to be ‘unimportant and pointless’ by the people taking them
Researchers studied a total of more than 500 flights over five years Found that almost half had a level of unimportant attached to them Air travel is one of the world’s leading contributors to global warming By JOE PINKSTONE FOR MAILONLINE 30 September 2019 Air travel and increasing amounts of flights is a leading contributor to climate change with fewer flights an easy way to …
Airlines’ CO2 emissions rising up to 70% faster than predicted
Carbon dioxide emitted by commercial flights rose by 32% from 2013 to 2018, study shows, Gwyn Topham Transport, The Guardian, 19 Sep 2019 Worldwide CO2 emissions from commercial flights are rising up to 70% faster than predicted by the UN, according to an analysis. Carbon dioxide emitted by airlines increased by 32% from 2013 to 2018, according to a study by the International Council …
From ancient Rome to modern Atlanta, the shape of cities has been defined by the technologies that allow commuters to get to work in about 30 minutes
JONATHAN ENGLISH, AUG 29, 2019, City Lab In 1994, Cesare Marchetti, an Italian physicist, described an idea that has come to be known as the Marchetti Constant. In general, he declared, people have always been willing to commute for about a half-hour, one way, from their homes each day. This principle has profound implications for urban life. The value of land …
Civilian aircraft currently emit about 2 percent of anthropogenic CO2 and, once the effects of contrails (human made clouds) are included, cause 5 percent of warming at any moment, though they do not last for centuries like CO2
After 9/11, when all commercial flights in the U.S. were grounded for three days, the diurnal temperature difference increased by up to 1.8 degrees C. The increase was strongest where air traffic was normally densest, said the study’s author, David Travis of the University of Wisconsin. By Fred Pearce, Yale360, July 2019 New research shows that condensation trails from aircraft exhaust …
Electric Aviation Taking Off
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/7/4/1867720/-Your-next-flight-could-be-electric-in-a-good-way?detail=emaildkre Your next flight could be electric—in a good way When people take an airline flight, “electric” is not a term that seems all that desirable. For most people, that would seem to suggest something happening in the skies that was considerably different from the kind of get on, snooze, get off experience they’d like to have in getting from A to B. …
Airplane Contrails’ Climate Impact to Triple by 2050, Study Says: The clouds created by jet engine pollution have a surprisingly powerful short-term impact on global warming
BY BOB BERWYN, INSIDECLIMATE NEWS JUN 27, 2019 Those thin white clouds that jet engines draw across the sky are leaving their mark on the climate. A new study warns that the global heat-trapping effect of contrail clouds will triple by 2050 unless airlines and airplane builders dramatically reduce emissions or air traffic patterns change. Air travel is growing so …
Flying cheaper than driving for trips up to 300 miles and 3x faster? Also energy cost for 1 hr of electric flight is $7 in Solar Impulse spinoff H55
Eviation claims Alice is capable of flying nine passengers at 240 knots (276 mph) up to 650 miles on a single charge. The aircraft will use electric motors from MagniX, an all-electric flight propulsion company which recently announced its own partnership with Harbour Air to make the seaplane operator the world’s first all-electric airline. BlackBird adding 100+ Bye electric airplanes to …
Climate crisis: aviation industry hears clamor for electric planes: Shift from fossil fuels top of agenda for Paris air show
By Jasper Jolly Sat 15 Jun 2019 The Guardian Faced with growing calls for action on the climate crisis, aerospace companies gathering for the Paris air show next week are turning their thoughts to a future run on electricity rather than fossil fuels. The scale of the challenge is considerable. The target for net zero carbon emissions by 2050, recommended by …