Electric cars, bicycles, but what about electric planes? Image: flickr
Electric cars, bicycles, but what about electric planes?
There are electric bikes, motorcycles, cars, trains, and even electric boats. Aerospace engineer David Doral points out: “The last barrier remains that of the aircraft. Right now, technology would allow us to fly for 15 or 20 minutes with zero emissions. And in five or six years we will be able to see the first electric flight with passengers, ”he predicts.
Many companies are working on projects to reduce the impact of aviation on climate change. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) passed a resolution a few weeks ago to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. Airbus, one of the industry giants, has also set the date 2035 for its electric prototypes.
David Doral is a teacher at ITAerea school and co-founder of DANTE Aeronautical, a Spanish startup that has been looking for solutions for electric aviation for the past five years. He assumes that there will be short-hop connections between Los Angeles-San Francisco, Paris-London and Madrid-Barcelona before the Airbus deadline, some of which are covered by zero-emission devices.
Speaking to elindependiente.com, he said: “We have started prototyping electric aircraft, like all of us, but in the last two years we have seen that this can be put into practice in a much shorter time by existing aircraft will be modified. In aviation, progress is very slow because you have to test a lot of things and you need a lot of permits. The modification of existing aircraft therefore simplifies everything a lot. “
Doral’s company is testing the caravan model from the American manufacturer Cessna. It is a single-engine aircraft with a capacity for nine passengers. Around 2,000 units were made of this model and have the option of increasing the payload. “It is necessary that the load can be lifted because the batteries are very heavy,” he emphasized.
The American startup Wright Electric Inc recently presented its project of a 100% electric aircraft by 2027. It has an autonomy of one hour and a capacity for a hundred people. Their strategy is to recycle old aircraft, in this case the BAe 146. This aircraft was originally manufactured by BAE Systems and discontinued in 2001.
In an interview with Bloomberg, CEO Jeffrey Engler said, “Customers are asking us for cleaner options and we want to show that there is an alternative. An adaptation of an old aircraft has disadvantages, but is at the same time a certified aircraft ”.
According to David Doral, with the technology currently in existence, it is impossible for an electric plane to travel thousands of kilometers. When it comes to electric flying, the problem is the weight of the energy supply required. Fuel has always been used for flying because it is energy efficient and weighs little. If we change that with batteries, it is associated with a lot of weight. “
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