✈️ Green And Cheap Flights: A Possibility?
EVs, e-boats, e-trains and e-trams. It seems every vehicle except aeroplanes have been electrified. Here's why.
The letter “E” is in vogue nowadays.
From e-vehicles to e-cigarettes, the world is going electric.
But have you wondered why we haven’t managed to make airplanes electric yet?
After all, the airline industry emits as much pollution as the whole continent of South America.
✈️ Electric Planes Still A Fantasy?
The desire to create an electric aeroplane is almost as old as man’s desire to fly.
In fact, the oldest electric plane was created in 1973.
After all, these planes could bring down the cost of flying by more than half!
But the problem with these electric planes is that they can only fly for very short distances and with very few passengers.
For instance, the world’s first commercial electric plane (which took flight in 2019) only flew for only 15 minutes with just six passengers.
An Israeli company Eviation has created electric planes which can travel long stretches but it too can accommodate only 9 passengers.
So, electric planes exist but they aren't able to make much of a difference. But why?
Batteries.
EV batteries have advanced a lot but they are still not suitable for commercial planes that fly thousands of kilometres at a stretch.
The best batteries that we currently have provide an energy of 250 watt-hours per kilogram. Compare that to jet fuel’s energy of 12,000 watt-hours per kilogram and you’ll understand the problem.
So, to get more power you need more batteries.
But this will increase the weight of the plane, which will increase the power needed to run it.
Thus, you will need more batteries to power the plane, which means more weight…
Get the point?
So, unless we manage to make batteries that are sleek, lightweight and powerful, commercial electric aeroplanes will remain a distant dream.
But the aviation emissions problem needs to be solved soon. And for that several alternatives are being developed:
Hydrogen powered planes: Though electric batteries can’t be added in planes, electric motors fit right in. These motors can be used to split water into hydrogen which can power planes.
But because hydrogen is very flammable, people are not exactly keen on its use in aeroplanes. Flying is already scary enough.
Hybrid planes: Just like hybrid cars aim to solve the current issues with EVs, hybrid planes could sort out the aviation industry's problems.
But again adding two different engines to the plane could make it heavier, increasing fuel consumption and taking us back to square one.
Solar planes: Yes, believe it or not companies have figured out a way to make planes run on solar energy.
But these planes run at a 100km/hr speed compared to a normal aeroplane's 600-800km/hour speed. So journeys would be much longer in such planes, especially during the night.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel: Last but not the least, Sustainable Aviation Fuel is currently one of the most commonly used ways to reduce airline emissions. Over 450,000 flights already use it, including Indian airlines like IndiGo and SpiceJet. It is usually made using waste products like biomass, used food scraps and even used diapers or biofuels like vegetable or even hemp oil. This reduces emissions by around 80%!
But here too, there's a catch.
🧐 The Problems With SAF
First, SAF currently costs twice as much as jet fuel. Which is why even the flights that do use it, blend it with jet fuel.
Second, using biofuel to reduce emissions has raised a lot of controversy lately due to the rising food inflation.
You see, when we use crops that could be used to feed millions, for frivolous purposes like attending a conference or travelling to Maldives, it does raise eyebrows.
Okay, but why don't we use existing food scraps and used oil for this purpose? That way we won't have to deal with this extra waste and we can reduce emissions. Two birds, one stone.
Well, a lot of companies around the world are trying to do so. But this method is expensive and complicated because of the difficulties associated with collecting this waste. If the waste management problem is solved, we will unlock a major source of energy, not just for the aviation industry but for the world.
For instance, in India alone carbon in agricultural residues, solid waste, and industrial off-gases can provide more than 30 billion litres per year of sustainable ethanol.
This can be used in aeroplanes, cars, and even help produce electricity.
But this too is a distant dream until we solve the problem of collection.
So, is there no way to reduce airline emissions?
Well, work is constantly being done on each of these technologies to improve them and make them viable.
On top of that, the airline industry is taking significant pains to reduce their fuel consumption.
This includes reducing the weight of the plan and using AI to find the most efficient air route.
So, change is coming and coming soon.
Plus, government's across the world are also providing both incentives and punishments to airlines to get them to use more and more SAF.
But will these solutions be enough?
And how will we tackle the problem of private jets, which are responsible for the majority of the aviation industry's emissions?
⚡In a line: Electric planes are not commercially viable yet but the aviation industry has several other ways to reduce emissions.
💡Quick question: Do you think governments should ban private planes?
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