Also high on the agenda at this year’s Farnborough airshow was ‘greener aviation’ and the efforts the aerospace industry is making in pushing forward exciting new developments in sustainable aviation. With aviation growth now set to resume, technologies such as newer ultra-efficient airliners, open-rotor engines and algae-based biofuels will be critical in balancing the worldwide demand for air travel with the need to reduce its carbon footprint. We interviewed two top-level executives - Dr Jean Botti, EADS and Charles Champion, Airbus about some of these ‘green’ developments in aerospace.
Dr Jean Botti, Chief Technical Officer, EADS
Dr Jean Botti, Chief Technical Officer, EADS tell us why he believes biofuels represent the best ‘Plan B’ for aviation compared to kerosene. In June EADS flew a Diamond DA42NG demonstrator powered purely by biofuel made from algae.
Charles Champion, Executive Vice President Engineering, Airbus
Airbus Executive Vice President Engineering, Charles Champion, talks us through a new future airliner concept from 2050, an ‘engineers dream’ that features high efficiency laminar-flow wings and semi-buried engines to shield the noise.
