Technology is rapidly advancing along with our environmental awareness, giving us the options and the will to make more conscious choices as consumers. When we close our
garage doors, heading off to work each morning, we can do so behind the wheel of a hybrid or an all-electric car. We have many options for
greener products— from personal care items to electronics. But one area of our society that seems to be left out of the environmental conversation is the airplane.
Why is this? Is it just not possible for a plane to ever be green?
That may have been the way of the past, but it is not the way of the future.
Green technology is making its way into the airplane industry and has the potential to “green” the skies. Engineers have been working on hybrid and
electric plane technology for many years now, but the financial incentive and feasibility just wasn't there, at least, that is, until now.
Google (
News 
-
Alert) and NASA recently hosted the
2011 Green Flight Challenge in which engineers were tasked with creating the most efficient, environmentally friendly engine for an airplane. The stakes were high with a prize of over a million dollars, and many green engineering companies stepped up to the challenge.
There were, of course, rules to this high-flying challenge. Participants were allocated only the equivalent to a single gallon of
fuel per passenger, and their planes had to travel at least 200 miles within a two-hour time period. The plane that could do so most efficiently would prevail. Fourteen entrants took the challenge, but it was the Taurus G4 created by a Pennsylvania-based team of engineers that won the challenge.
The electric Taurus G4 met the challenge head on, and the creators took home the ultimate first-place prize. But beyond bragging rights, what this shows us is that more environmentally friendly plane travel is not a pie-in-the-sky dream. When the incentive and motivation to do so are there, these technologies will already be waiting in the proverbial wings (pun intended).
While there is certainly still much improvement needed for this technology to become commercially viable, it shows that there is hope that riding the friendly skies might not have to be a relic of our gas-guzzling past. With the finest minds in the world working on
eco-friendly air travel, green flight might not be too far off after all.
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shyb
Chris Keenan is a green and general blog writer. He writes for many sites including
Precision Garage Door. Chris also maintains a personal
house and garden blog.
TMCnet publishes expert commentary on various telecommunications, IT, call center, CRM and other technology-related topics. Are you an expert in one of these fields, and interested in having your perspective published on a site that gets several million unique visitors each month? Get in touch.Edited by
Rich Steeves
