http://www.care2.com/greenliving/around-the-world-on-zero-carbon-a-day.html
Around the World on Zero Carbon a Day
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s … Hy-Bird! The race to fly a “green” plane around the world is on, and French company Lisa Airplanes says its zero-carbon Hy-Bird aircraft will make the trip as early as the summer of 2009.
The Hy-Bird—which looks kind of like an airborne high-heeled shoe—is made of lightweight carbon fibre and weighs in at just 1.1 tons. The tail and wings—20 metres or 65 feet tip to tip—are outfitted with photovoltaic cells to supply energy for takeoff and onboard power supply. A hydrogen fuel cell (hence the name, “Hy-Bird”) provides power while the craft is in flight.
“It is solely powered by an electric engine,” Lisa President Erick Herzberger explains. “It will be the first airplane that does not emit any greenhouse gas and is completely silent.”
It could still be years before travellers can book a flight on a Hy-Bird, and when they do, flight times will likely be significantly longer—cruising speed for Lisa’s first model is an estimated 150 kilometres or 95 miles an hour, compared to 920 kilometres or 570 miles an hour for the average 747.
The company hopes, though, that the technology will improve and the plane’s maiden voyage will inspire excitement about the future of clean transportation.
Ode is the magazine for intelligent optimists. For information or to subscribe, visit the site here.
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4 comments
add your comment »Awesome idea. Hopefully it can be turned into a viable transport option. I am a pilot and I love my job but I also love the environment it's a huge dilema for myself having a job that produces so much greenhouse gases every time I go but what else is there for me to fly.
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Good that there has been some movement.. Its a great solution even at that speeds.. they can make you pay a fuel tax now.. probably a hy bird tax instead :(
I hope other campnies are looking into this.. but they make lots of money from there fuel tax too.. so im sure it will be a long drawn out process....
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This does indeed breed excitement! We must hope that it will inspire more research and development of this sort of idea and technology, and someday make it possible for us to travel the friendly skies without destroying our planet in the process.
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This is exciting - long may it live!
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