Manuel said:
"This is great news! I hope all cities pass this into law.The practice of using plastic bags just to quickly dispose of them has been going on far t..." [read]
Jay Knecht said:
"What are the performance stats for the Son of Max? ..." [read]
gazelle said:
"@ Dallas:
The book, and the supplementary videos in the "How It All Ends" youtube series, address this in detail, but I'll try to paraphrase:..." [read]
Barry said:
"Kofi Annan has about as much of a clue about electric cars and developing countries as Ann Ann the Panda.
He underestimates the ingenuity o..." [read]
JJ said:
"Very cool. I didn't thought that biodesel might be our future fuel...." [read]
Derek said:
""I guarantee you this will spark huge debates around the world," she said. "We have to delve into this in a way that hasn't been done in a long tim..." [read]
Mark your calendars for November 23rd. That's when the first aviation biofuel test flight with passengers aboard is scheduled to take place, and the first test flight in Europe. Dutch airline KLM has announced that "a select group of passengers" will be ride in a Boeing 747 powered in one engine by a mixture of 50% bio-kerosene and 50% conventional aviation fuel:
With 2 People on Board (Unlike Photo Above)
Klaus Savier likes to have his cake and eat it too. Usually with airplanes, speed and efficiency are a tradeoff. You go slower and burn less fuel, or you go faster and burn more fuel (all else being equal). This is why it is impressive that Mr. Savier won this year's Fuelventure 400 in his modified VariEze (originally designed by the famous Burt Rutan) by getting 45 MPG at 207 MPH, and this with two people on board (and for those wondering, there were no massive tailwinds or anything of the sort).
Eight jet contrails from exhaust vapor mess with radiation balance. Photo by Jasmic via Flickr
No, we are not saying air travel is green. But some airlines are a lot greener than others. In fact, in this arena, the difference between 'eco savvy' and 'who cares' is much more drastic than in most industries--you're looking at 418 billion pounds of carbon emitted annually by airplanes, enough aluminum cans from beverage services to build an entire new fleet each year, and contrails causing "climate forcing. The good news is some airlines, like Virgin America, are making strides to green the industry. Greenopia ranked U.S. carriers' environmental record, noting big differences with older fuel-inefficient fleets. There are also times planes can be greener than car or train trips. So who's not up to snuff? Here's the offenders, with number seven being the worst of the worst.
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Plane Sets Record in Zero Emissions Flight
The Ion Tiger, an unmanned, hydrogen fuel cell-powered plane developed by the Naval Research Laboratory, just set an unofficial flight record--it flew for 23 hours and 17 minutes on a test run. And it did it all with zero emissions.
The Strida folding bike is designed to meet the internationally agreed rules for luggage dimensions, and many people travel all over the world with theirs. Yet when I flew to Boston for Greenbuild last year, Air Canada decided that it was a bike, not a bag, and charged me fifty bucks for the privilege of having me carry it through customs and putting it on the ramp with all of the other luggage. I complained; they said drop dead. I went the next step and took them to the regulator, the Canadian Transportation Agency.
In the end, they completely ignored the issues involved and said drop dead too. And I really thought I had it in the bag.
Aviation accounts for only 3% of carbon emissions from the global transport sector, but it's a number that's growing. Not to mention that those emissions often have a higher warming potential than ones emitted elsewhere. Radiative forcing anyone? Well, to address these concerns the International Air Transport Association committed Saturday to new emission reductions targets and fuel efficiency improvements:
Image Source: Specialkrb
Dear Pablo: Can Airlines really save fuel by asking their passengers to empty their bladders before boarding?
Although their website makes no mention of it, Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) has been widely reported to be trying an experiment for the month of October: they are asking their passengers to "lighten the load" by visiting the restroom before boarding.
We're not sure how to say this, politely, erm, before you board, can you please remove your shoes, empty your water bottles, and well, your bladders too. Whew, that wasn't so bad. Now, if you fly Japan's Nippon Airlines in the month of October, you just might hear those words too as the airline tries out its own experiment to lighten its passengers and thus it's load, reports the Environmental Leader.
Photo: Michael Graham Richard
Cutting Fuel Use and Noise for Planes on the Ground
A coalition of companies with interests in the aviation sector (including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Heathrow Airport, etc) have published a document called "New airport departures code to cut noise & emissions plus improve local air quality". As the name states, the goal is to reduce noise and emissions at and around airports. The beauty is that it doesn't require expensive changes like buying new planes or building new structures. It's rather all about using what we already have in a smarter way....
photo: Pawel Loj via flickr.
Whether carbon offsets are more buying indulgences for your eco-sins or a viable way of addressing environmental impact of flying is a perennial hot-button topic, and this next bit of news is likely to just to stir the discussion: Over at CleanTechnica San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom touts a world's first for the San Francisco International Airport -- the first in-airport kiosks where you can buy carbon offsets:...
photo: Juho Holmi via flickr
Remember how the US Navy announced plans to test some 40,000 gallons of aviation biofuel in its F/A-18 fighter jets? At the time they hadn't decided on who would be supply the fuel, nor what feedstock would be used -- only that it had to be a non-food crop. Well, both have been answered (via Biofuels Digest)... Montana-based Sustainable Oils and camelina:...
Your teeth are only as strong as glass, but they can withstand years of you crunching on granola bars. How is this? The key is that teeth form microscopic cracks jig-jagged in shape, instead of big ones, in order to alleviate sudden impact and stress on your teeth.
It is these micro-cracks in teeth, say Tel Aviv University researchers in a new study, first to describe how the phenomenon works, that can be used in biomimicry for creating lighter and safer airplanes. ...
Due to a fluke opportunity, I am flying in first class for my first (and probably last) time ever. I decided before the flight that I will accept the royal treatment and that I will not let the guilt creep in just because those people behind me are sitting in cramped seats without hot towel service or a complimentary open bar. Thankfully there is a curtain between us.
Then the dinner arrives. No need for guilt here. Besides the fact that the meal is not your average plane fare, neither is the waste. In fact, there is not one disposable item, other than the little package that the salad dressing came in....
New York Times, from an earlier proposal for standup flying
Three years ago we wrote about the Airbus proposal (quickly denied) for standing-room seating (Now We Know Why They are Called Airbuses) noting that there might be TreeHugger benefits:
We suppose there could be a TreeHugger case that more people crammed in means less fuel burned per person, and we also suspect that it will end deep vein thrombosis, but generally we think it gives new meaning to Flying is Dying.
Image via: Pet Airways
Thanks to the gang over at Daily Candy for this little tip. For just USD$149 each way (starting price), you can ship Fido, Fluffy and all of your four-legged family members around the US on the newly minted Pet Airways. ...
Image credit: YuneecElectric Aircraft Makes Successful Test Flight
There are plenty of fancy electric super cars out there proving that battery-powered does not have to mean boring. But is the world ready for electric aviation? THere's actually more prototypes out there than you might think - from the SkySpark electric plane to the jaw-dropping, alp-crossing Sunseeker solar plane (video). Heck, there's so much hope for battery-powered flight that there is even an Electric Plane Symposium, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has hinted at supersonic electric flight. In the meantime, another electric plane has taken flight - and this one might be on the market sooner than you'd think. Click below the fold for video footage of the maiden flight. ...
Data on biofuel test flights than took place nearly six months ago (Continental Airlines' flight took place in January and JAL's a bit more recently) is resurfacing at the Paris Air Show.
The gist of it is something that has been repeatedly highlighted in the intervening months, that biofuels perform as well or slightly better than fossil fuels in jet engines, with Continental saying that their biofuel blend increased fuel efficiency by 1.1%. But that doesn't mean that we're really much closer to wide-scale use.
Writing in Yale Environment 360, David Biello really sums up well the nut that's got to be cracked:...
Photo: SkySpark
New Speed Record for an Electric Airplane, That Is...
Flying is currently the fastest-growing source of CO2, and is expected to keep growing rapidly in the next 20 years. We're still at the early stage of finding greener alternatives to our current planes (other than not flying and ground transportation), but each new milestone is important. One of those was the new electric flight speed record set by the SkySpark 100% electric plane. More details and videos of the flight below....
Photo: Flickr, CC
Hold On, Don't Order These Airline Tickets Yet!
This is part 3 of a series. In part 1, we looked at how not all flights were created equal, and in part 2 we looked at the top 20 most popular flying routes based on data from the TRX Carbon calculator. But any discussion of flying wouldn't be complete without at least an overview of alternatives to flying, because whatever you do to optimize your flying habits, best is still to avoid flying in the first place. Read on for some tips!...
Photo: Flickr, CC
Same Flight, 450% Difference in CO2 Emissions Between Airlines...
According to 700-page Stern Report on the economics of climate change, CO2 emissions from aviation are about 600-700 megatonnes per year, or about 2-3% of total global CO2 emissions. The single digit percentage might not seem like much, but there are aggravating factors: Aviation is currently the fastest-growing source of CO2, and is expected to keep growing rapidly in the next 20 years. Also, those emissions are not spread evenly across world population. For some people, flying might represent a huge portion of their individual carbon footprint (do you recognize yourself?), and so any improvement can have a big impact. Get ready to green your flying: Let's look at what makes a difference!...
Image credit: JstockardAircraft 'Waggle Effect' Can Reduce Fuel Consumption 20%
Everybody knows that flying is an energy intensive activity. Unfortunately, many long awaited innovations in fuel-efficient aviation are of the more far-fetched variety - I'm thinking airships, blended wings etc. Yet it's long been noted that the addition of 'winglets' to aircraft wings can reduce fuel consumption - in fact, Southwest Airline's use of winglets even earned them a nomination from one of our readers for our Unexpected Green competition. But that's not the only simple improvement that could cut fuel use - now a team from the University of Warwick in the UK claims that 'waggling' air accross aircraft wings could cut skin friction drag by 40%, offering a 20% savings in fuel consumption and emissions. Read on for more details.
...
He Opens the Cockpit and Everything
We've written a few times about the Sunseeker II solar airplane, and how it was the first solar plane to cross the Alps. We had some breathtaking photos, but now we have video! Check it out below, once they take off at about 45 seconds in, it's really amazing (well, I should manage expectations... Check it out, it's okay.)...
photo: Ann the Doc via flickr.
You want to be a better eco-citizen, minimize your air travel, and want to buy a carbon offset for those times when you do have to fly. But before you hit that calculate my emissions button you notice a small check box."Include Radiative Forcing" it says. What the heck is radiative forcing and why does it matter to the carbon emissions of my travel? And if it does, how much does (or should) it add? Here's the quick(ish) answer:...
Airspace
I am a big fan of propeller planes; the Bombardier Q400 sips fuel and flies low enough that its exhaust is not as harmful as the jets flying twice as high. In an earlier post (Perhaps Flying Turboprop isn't Dying) I noted that it is far more fuel efficient per person than a car and only slightly worse than a train. As I prepare to bike down to the airport and fly to New York on one, I have been considering the news coverage about the investigation into the crash of a Q400 near Buffalo in February. I like to call it a greener way to fly, but apparently the working conditions and pay make it anything but....
The Guardian
We have accused Virgin Galactic's new spaceport of the Sin of LEED Green Buildings That Are Laughably Inappropriate, asking "what is the point of being ""both sustainable and sensitive to its surroundings" when your purpose for being is neither?"
Now Leo Hickman in the Guardian calls them out for the ride itself. He questions their claims that "every astronaut is an environmentalist," that "viewing earth from space would transform people's attitudes to the environment."
Hickman suggests that they watch a David Attenborough documentary, or perhaps the Discovery Network, instead.
...
Not Just Any Old Electric Plane... A Supersonic Electric Plane
Techcrunch has an intriguing interview with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. He briefly talks about an interest in nuclear fusion, but also speculates about a supersonic electric plane. The video of the interview above has pretty bad sound, but there's a transcript below....
We'll be working on better category archives soon. In the meantime, take a look at the weekly archive if you really want to dig around, or use the search box at the top of the page.
on 11. 5.09
Photo: Michael Graham Richard
Cutting Fuel Use and Noise for Planes on the Ground
A coalition of companies with interests in the aviation sector (including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Heathrow Airport, etc) have published a document called "New airport departures code to cut noise & emissions plus improve local air quality". As the name states, the goal is to reduce noise and emissions at and around airports. The beauty is that it doesn't require expensive changes like buying new planes or building new structures. It's rather all about using what we already have in a smarter way....
photo: 
photo: 
Your teeth are only as strong as glass, but they can withstand years of you crunching on granola bars. How is this? The key is that teeth form microscopic cracks jig-jagged in shape, instead of big ones, in order to alleviate sudden impact and stress on your teeth.
It is these micro-cracks in teeth, say Tel Aviv University researchers in a new study, first to describe how the phenomenon works, that can be used in 
Due to a fluke opportunity, I am flying in first class for my first (and probably last) time ever. I decided before the flight that I will accept the royal treatment and that I will not let the guilt creep in just because those people behind me are sitting in cramped seats without hot towel service or a complimentary open bar. Thankfully there is a curtain between us.
Then the dinner arrives. No need for guilt here. Besides the fact that the meal is not your average plane fare, neither is the waste. In fact, there is 
New York Times, from an earlier proposal for standup flying
Three years ago we wrote about the Airbus proposal (quickly denied) for standing-room seating (
Image via: 
Image credit: 
Data on biofuel test flights than took place nearly six months ago (
Photo: SkySpark
New Speed Record for an Electric Airplane, That Is...
Flying is 
Photo: 
Photo: Financial Times, Globalization and World Cities Research Network.
If You're Going to Fly, At Least Do it Right
The 
Photo: 
Image credit: 
He Opens the Cockpit and Everything
We've written a few times about the 
Image credit: 
photo: 
The Guardian
We have accused Virgin Galactic's new spaceport of the
