Passenger jets get a radical green makeover

It’s 55 years since the De Havilland Comet entered service as the world’s first purpose-built jet airliner, and as the international media were treated to a test flight aboard the Airbus A380 a week ago, it was clear that travelling at 30,000 feet in a metal tube with wings can still leave us awestruck.

But a decade or so from now, our aircraft could be radically different. Sophisticated computer controls and new design concepts are producing something that looks more like a manta ray without the tail. In March, Boeing will begin test flights with a scaled-down X-48B, an aircraft that almost does away with the fuselage altogether and makes it part of the wing. The aim is to slash fuel consumption and carbon emissions.
Increasingly, pilots rely on computers to do much of the flying, but blended-wing body designs take this to another level, which might worry holidaymakers who fret about reaching their destination in one piece. They shouldn’t worry yet: Boeing is initially considering this craft for the military, rather than for civil aviation. It could be carrying cargo and weapons for the US military within 15 years, says Princen.

The project started out as a collaboration between McDonnell Douglas and Stanford University to test blended-wing body designs for a commercial craft that would carry 800 passengers. In 1997, when Boeing and McDonnell Douglas merged, the objectives changed. The US Air Force is laden with ageing aircraft, says Princen, making it a perfect customer. “This is radically different from other commercial aircraft and the risks are huge. It’s easier to develop it as a military aircraft, and prove it there.”

Nonetheless, the civil industry needs this kind of development. The negative impact of air travel on the environment has been well publicised. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) put the contribution of aviation to global warming at about 3.5 per cent in 1992. It presents varying scenarios for future emissions, drawing data from different organisations.

No wonder the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe has asked the industry to halve its CO2 emissions by 2020 (meaning a 50 per cent cut in fuel consumption). It has also requested an 80 per cent cut in nitrogen-oxide emissions.

Aircraft are getting more efficient – the IPCC predicts an annual reduction in fuel emissions per aircraft of 1.4 per cent between 2000 and 2040 – but that’s more than offset by the 6 per cent per year increase in passenger numbers, argues Peter Lockley, who works in policy development at pressure group the Aircraft Environment Foundation. “So this [new aircraft] sounds good in principle, but it won’t be flying in time to save the planet,” he warns.

But that’s not going to stop the developers.

Climate Ark/The Independent