Category: Transportation

EU Researching Green Planes

First off, sorry about all the posts on green airports and the overall greening of planes. The reason I post so much about it is because the primary reason I’m not jet-setting around the world is because of all the harm that flying does. Envirionmnetally friendly flying machines will allow me to see more of this neat-o planet.

So here’s some more good news on flying: the EU will invest 2.5 billion Euros into research and development of greener, leaner, air-focused transportation systems.

The thing that gets me most exicted is that the companies involved in the research have to share their findings, allowing for more innovation to happen!

Participating aerospace firms are agreeing to share their research, which should create a valuable exchange of innovative solutions. Among the ideas being explored are engines that use alternative fuels and more efficient engines to conserve fuel. Also being explored are technologies to make aircraft less noisy. This both helps to reduce noise pollution around airports, a frequent urban problem, and provides passengers with a quieter, more relaxing ride.

Faster and Greener Flying

Not only is the proposed A2 aircraft fast (really fast! London to Sydney in 5 hours), it would be one of the greenest in the sky!
Perhaps this plane will even land at the green airports.

Because it is fuelled by liquid hydrogen, the aircraft only produces water vapour and nitrous oxide as exhaust and has a negligible carbon footprint.

Despite its length, the aircraft will also be able to land on current international airport runways.

Mr Bond, managing director of Reaction Engines Ltd, said that from a standing start and with the requisite political will, the plane could be flying commercially within 15 years.

More on Green Flying

Singapore is going green too, the FAA is trying to green American planes, and don’t forget that you can also travel green!

To add to this list of good news, Christchurch airport is going carbon-neutral, which is really good news!

At a meeting in Christchurch the company received its carbon zero certificate from Landcare Research which chief executive Rene Bakx says comes after a detailed measurement and analysis process.

“We are the gateway for the best of the South Island, and, with an agreed focus on tourism and sustainability, the decision to work towards this goal was a straightforward one for the company to take,” he says.

He says the status has been achieved by the reduction and offsetting of greenhouse emissions by the airport company operations. Emissions from planes are not included in the calculations.

Be Lazy When Waiting for the Bus

Waiting for a bus that never seems to come can be one of life’s more aggravating moments. No need to sit around getting all frustrated with underfunded services though. Thanks to the power of mathematics we now know that you should justbe lazy and sit and wait for the bus.

Scott Kominers, a mathematician at Harvard University, and his colleagues derived a formula for the optimal time that you should wait for a tardy bus at each stop en route before giving up and walking on. “Many mathematicians probably ponder this on their way to work, but never get round to working it out,” he says.

The team found that the solution was surprisingly simple. When both options seem reasonably attractive, the formula advises you to choose the “lazy” option: wait at the first stop, no matter how frustrating (www.arxiv.org/abs/0801.0297).