Is there a way to create more fuel efficient planes then the ones we have now?

Question

I was just wondering this because i know that the planes and jets we have today use a huge amount of fuel and are disastrous to our environment. And i am talking about better planes that can hold many people like the ones we have today.

email me if you want more clarification

Answer 1

Using hydrogen powered jet engines would be a very clean solution. It already is possible to run jet engines on Hydrogen gas, just not very popular idea right now.

A hydrogen powered plane would be much safer too. Worst case scenario - if all of the fuel was released in a crash - the passengers would be safer. Why? Jet fuel saturates the plane and passengers as it flows down and out of the engines. It can burn for a long time. Hydrogen would do the opposite. It would rapidly dissipate up into the atmosphere and away from people and property. The fire would also be very brief. In fact if the WTC was hit by a hydrogen jet - it would probably still be standing. BMW's safety research is very fascinating.

The catch here is figuring out how to store and manufacture the hydrogen for the planes. Some people were looking at a combo of stored gas and onboard generation - possibly using solar.

The real bottom line comes from how efficient we can get at producing hydrogen .

Answer 2

The efficiency of a jet engine has improved through new metals and combustion improvements to the point where a modern jumbo jet gets 60mpg per passenger.

Building bigger planes improves fuel economy because you can fit more people in a bigger volume with a small increase in drag. They can also fly higher where air drag is less. And using lighter composite materials saves weight and improves economy.

However, further improvements will be small because engines are very efficient and are close to thermodynamic limits. It also costs more for modern materials, and having a big plane is less efficient for short flights.

It may be easier to fly slower which is much more fuel efficient, the same as driving slower on the highway. But this reduces the reason to fly in the first place.

Answer 3

Is there a way? Well of course there are ways, however the question I think that you are interested in is if there are any plans all ready in the works, or technology being seriously assessed for use in the near future.

One option that is being looked at, by both the military and the private sector is the return of the use of lighter than air craft. The blimp is an aircraft that is much more fuel efficient than standard aircraft, but got a bad rep due to the Hindenburg disaster. However, new materials and aerodynamic designs are once again making the dirigible a valid plan for heavy air lifting.

Another technological innovation being looked into are "ground effects planes". I don't know a lot about these, but they use the turbulence generated by low altitude aircraft flight to create a cushion of air that lifts the craft, creating more lifting power with lower amounts of energy input. I recommend looking up these crafts, as there is a lot of info out there about them.

I also have heard that Mr. Willy Nelson fuels his Jet with Bio diesel and has done so successfully for years.

Answer 4

We're getting there.  Most new planes have "winglets" that reduce turbulence and reduce fuel consumption by 5-7%.  This also means for a cross country trip, they can carry less fuel which makes the plane lighter, further adding to better "mileage"

Bigger planes that are more fully seated have fuel economy per person of about 70 passenger miles per gallon.  Not too bad from what it was just 15 years ago and they're getting better.

Answer 5

Burt Rutan built a plane that flew around the world on a single tank of gas. What more do you WANT???

SHEESH!

Answer 6

I understand where you are coming from and your interest on this subject as it is a very specific and inclusive one. I am not too sure on the current technology in the aviation Field but i do know that we are always thinking of great innovation designs in the automotive industry. I am sure in the near future we will (if we are not already) explore alternative fuel methods in aviation

Answer 7

They're basically top of the line now. But I was reading today that they're wanting to fly at lower altitudes because of how the exhaust works with the atmosphere at different altitudes. Also flying at night is appearantly worse than flying during the day. During daytime the contrails cause light and radiation to bounce back into space, but at night they trap radiation coming from the planet.

But the best ways for them to be greener I heard from Richard Branson on a local science and tech show we have here. He said that planes need to taxi on landing and on departure. That means they get towed. Because they waste a lot of fuel just to move on land, because it's not what they're made for, this can save a ton of cash too.

Another way is for the planes to descend faster. You know how if you fly and you get to your destination, the plane circles around for a while, that's really wasteful. But the plane is waiting in queue, waiting for when it can land. Now they're developing technology to allow the plane to take off, head to it's direction, and land. By automating the system a bit, it allows for this action, which makes it more efficient.

So basically, they can't do much about the motors now, just about processes.

Oh but one other thing Richard Branson is trying to do is get the company that makes the engines to see if they can run on slightly higher sulphite amounts. Sulphites are what brings down the temperature when a volcano erupts, it sends sulphites into the upper atmosphere, which causes radiation to bounce back. He's hoping that by increasing sulphite levels in jet fuel it can offset the emissions they cause.

It's all very neat stuff. The airline companies actually want to develop this stuff, for one reason especially, the bottom line. What saves the environment saves them cold hard cash.

Answer 8

Revive soaring

Use improved engines

Reprocess Av fuels.

Improve airframes.

Cut weight.

Resdesign whole plane.

More composites.

New thinking.

Scaled Composites designs

Miscl designs since WW2 end.

Answer 9

Yes.  The French have an air network which runs on electricity, and even flies straight to downtown cities.  

Oh wait, those are trains...

Answer 10

Being that the air lines are a private bussiness, and not ran by the govt. rest assured they are always looking for ways to improve milage, let fuel cost means more money in the bank.  A lot of trucking companies are switching to bio-diesle, not because they're enviromental, but because it's cheap-free at the moment.

Answer 11

Rocket engines use Hydrogen and Oxygen mixed to propell objects into space, with water and thrust being produced,  and I believe there is some talk of developing rocket powered missiles that reach speeds u to Mach 6 (6 times speed of sound) which could be modified to work on jet airlines. The problem is producing the hydrogen. It can be made by electrolysis of water, but this requires energy fro guess what, electricty produced by coal and oil power stations.

Answer 12

I am not a fan of more efficient planes, as I think that rail is better for both people and the environment. That said, however, I've seen models in nanotechnology for major commercial airliner jet engines the size of bowling balls, which would lessen the weight load considerably and generate real fuel savings. Lots of research going on in this area.

However, people would do better to expand the rail lines and high speed land travel options to provide the most benefit at least cost and greatest fuel efficiency.  Air travel, especially for short-haul flights of 750 miles or less, is not particularly efficient for a number of reasons, including overcrowding of airport access highways. A flight of 40 minutes in the air can routinely have portal-to-portal times of 5 to 6 hours, with the cheaper, less environmentally detrimental rail-based equivalent coming in at 4 to 6 hours!

Answer 13

I am sure there is, we just haven't discovered how to do that just yet. We need to.