Advancements in Sustainable Aviation Technology

Another sophisticated and highly advanced technological advancement, used in today’s world for long distance transportation, is the aircraft. Companies like Airbus, Boeing, Lockheed, Learjet etc. are fighting hard to keep on top of daily technological changes and are doing extensive research on designing and manufacturing energy efficient, low carbon secretion aircrafts. In general, jet engines (both supersonic and subsonic) consume huge amounts of energy and have very high carbon emission rates. For instance, the Boeing 747-400ERF, at maximum takeoff, has a weight of 412,775 kg. To keep this 400-ton bird in the air, at an altitude of 35,000 feet, cruising at a speed of Mach 0.92 (978km/h), the four Pratt & Whitney engines generate about 392,000

Add to that, the carbon emission rate is an astounding 48.25%. Engine manufacturers like Rolls Royce, Pratt & Whitney and General Electronics are working hard to develop new low cost and low carbon emission engines. For example, the modern jet liners like the Airbus A350, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner all use modern Rolls Royce (RR) 5th generation subsonic engines. The RR Trent 900-1000 engines are extremely fuel efficient and have very low carbon emissions compared to the 3rd and 4th generation engines. The carbon emission rates for these highly advanced newer engines range between 12-15%. SKYLON, in collaboration with Airbus, has announced that, by 2025, they will release their first SABRE (Synergistic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine) which will be the most cutting-edge rocket motor hypersonic engine mounted in an aircraft with the least possible carbon emission levels. This engine will fully run on nuclear energy and will never need refilling on its lifespan of 20 years. The image below shows the internal structure of the SABRE rocket motor

This is done by reflecting and amplifying the solar power to heat up the liquid generally water. As water has a very high boiling point at eats up a huge amount of thermal energy. That thermal energy is than used to rotate a turbine to generate electricity. Producing electricity by the mean of this technology will be cheaper and very eco-friendly. Although that technology is still under development theoretically this will have no carbon emission at all and will be safer than conventional technics that are being used. The figure below illustrates how it