Aviation sector is undergoing a complete paradigm shift in its venture to contribute towards a greener and meaner nature by undergoing green initiative with the mounting pressure from the consumers as they are replacing the emissions-reducing jet model to a complete electric aircraft as well as sustainable fuel that will also check and curb the otherwise depleting hydrocarbon, oil reserves.
Greta Thunberg, an avid teen climate activist a Sweden’s native looks out for an Eco-Friendly boat and “Flight Shaming” being a rage in this era, putting the air travel’s reputation at dire straits.
As per the European Environment Agency, globally the Aviation sector accounts for three percent of the climate destructive and changing carbon emissions as the world continues to reel under extreme weather conditions currently that includes Record heatwaves, looming wildfires, earthquakes, raging tornadoes, melting up of polar ice etc which have made conditions tougher as the sea levels are on constant rise.
At Asia’s biggest Air shows powered with Solar Panels conducted the previous week ‘Sustainability’ was one amongst several buzzwords in Singapore wherein both Manufacturers as well as Aviation Industry strived harder in outdoing each other by taking on the heat to be more sustainable as well as transparent.
However few critics and environmentalists criticised such pledges as just meagre ‘greenwash’, and PR stunts which will not do much to curb the damage that is already done with a humungous quantity of jet fuel that is apparently being wasted by burning it every year.
As per the words stated by Paul Stein, chief technology officer for engine maker Rolls-Royce for AFP, “the Aviation sector is already reeling under high pressure for improvising its sustainability image derailed over past few years with the amount of air emissions that relatively take place with burning of air fuel.”
Thus, with a think tank objective and to improvise the tarnished image, Aviation sector is in pipeline and working with engine maker like Rolls-Royce to find perfect pathway in search of greener sustainable means of air fuel, overviewing on how being entering into electrification of Aviation sector can cause an impact to them, and as well as looking models for better efficient engines and airframes.”
Cutting upon the Emissions and go greener, yet look modern: –
Within 2050, the road for global aviation industry looks both tougher as well as relatively much profitable as they have pledged to become an industry to curb down on the net carbon emissions by 50 percent, on the wake of British Aviation Sector that has further gone ahead this month to state that it will try to push towards achieving a net zero emission norms within the same date.
During the Singapore Airshow European plane maker Airbus, displayed a futuristic model of a brand-new travel jet that looks comprehensively modern, unique and innovative blending wings with the body of the aircraft having two rear mounted engines. This sleek design by the demonstrator would thus curb the aerodynamic drag and as well as cut down upon overall fuel consumption by 20% as compared to single-aisle aircrafts. The latest aircraft that is 2.2-metre-long (7.2 foot) long has been dubbed as ‘Maverick’ as it successfully had passed its first test flight during June the previous year.
Other global aviation stalwart Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR was in the meantime keener to highlight that its turboprop aircraft – popular for short hops, particularly in parts of Asia with poor infrastructure — burns 40 percent less fuel compared with a jet of the same size.
“It is a trade-off between fuel consumption and speed,” ATR chief executive Stefano Bortoli told AFP.
“You can gain 5-10 minutes with a faster jet but in terms of pollution, it is more damaging.”
Laggard and way too slow-movement of solutions: –
There have also been steps towards producing electric planes. The world’s first fully electric aircraft – designed by engineering firm magniX – made its inaugural test flight in December in Canada. Swiss company Smartflyer is developing a hybrid-electric aircraft for four people and is aiming for a maiden flight in 2022. As well as reducing emissions, the aircraft is less noisy and cheaper to operate due in part to lower fuel costs.
But Aldo Montanari, the company’s head of avionics and user interface, cautioned such projects would not be quick.
“The pressure is quite big… and I think the industry has understood but they need time to react, they cannot do it in one year,” he said. “It has to be safe.”
Biofuels are touted as a major route for the aviation industry to cut carbon emissions, and several airlines have in recent years operated commercial flights using them.
But prices remain higher than regular fuel, and they represent just a tiny proportion of jet fuel used globally.
Despite the best striving efforts, environmentalists accuse the aviation industry of moving too slowly as more evidence emerges of the devastating impacts of climate change.
“It will take a long time for airlines to become sustainable,” Dewi Zloch, climate and energy campaigner with Greenpeace, told AFP.
“All the technological solutions will take decades.”
