aviation
A one-of-a-kind airplane with a hybrid electric drive designed to reduce fuel consumption is making its public debut this week at the Paris Air Show Le Bourget 2011. The two-seat motor glider had a successful maiden flight on June 8 in Vienna. Developed by Siemens, Diamond Aircraft and EADS, the
aviation
Switching to new flight paths at certain airports could save airline companies money while also slashing carbon emissions and cutting flight times, according to a study from GE Aviation. “Highways in the Sky” finds that airlines could save $65.6 million a year by implementing the new flight paths at
aviation
Commercial aircraft haven’t made any significant advancements in efficiency over the past two decades, and probably won’t make meaningful future improvements without effective carbon dioxide emissions standards, according to the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). The UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has proposed a carbon
aviation
A Qatar Airways aircraft this week completed the world’s first commercial passenger flight powered by a fuel made from natural gas. The six-hour journey from London Gatwick to Doha, the capital of Qatar, was powered by a Shell-developed 50-50 blend of synthetic gas-to-liquids (GTL) kerosene and conventional oil-based kerosene
aviation
Aircraft wings that redirect air to waggle sideways could cut aviation fuel bills by 20 per cent, according to research funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Airbus in the UK. The new approach, which could dramatically reduce mid-flight drag, uses tiny air-powered jets that redirect
aviation
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) has published a new paper exploring the “miracle” chemical breakthrough that gave Britain’s Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft the edge over German fighters during the Second World War. The revolutionary aviation fuel was supplied to the RAF by an American firm — the Sun Oil
aviation
Finnair and Qatar Airways are the latest airline companies to join the Aviation Global Deal (AGD) Group, which seeks to develop a global policy for tackling aviation emissions. Other members of the group include Air France – KLM, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic, airport operator BAA and The Climate Group,
aviation
A new coalition of four major airlines says the next global treaty on climate change should take into the account greenhouse gas emissions of international aviation. The Aviation Global Deal Group (AGDG) was formed by Air France/KLM, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic and airport operator BAA. “Aviation has
aviation
A team of students from the University of Michigan recently set a record for the longest-flight yet by a radio-controlled, fuel-cell-powered miniature airplane. Dubbed Endurance, the plane stayed in the air over Milan, Michigan, for 10 hours, 15 minutes and four seconds, beating the previous record set in California by
aviation
Environmental groups have hailed the government’s u-turn in agreeing to close a loophole that would have excluded aviation and shipping emissions from the UK’s target of cutting CO2 emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. New climate and energy minister Ed Miliband had claimed it would have been
aviation
I never thought I would live to see the day when the airline industry and conservation organisations would work together. And yet Boeing and a number of the major airlines are being supported and advised by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to form
aviation
It looks like everyone wants to be a Virgin these days, especially a mile-high one: the biofuels trail blazed by Virgin is now being trodden by Continental Airlines along with chums Boeing and GE Aviation. The threesome have announced that they plan to do a test flight using bio-aviation-fuel in