A really interesting overview from the BBC on developments in the field of sustainable aviation. Battery planes are clearly still a long way off (and may never make it) but whoever can fix the pollution problems is likely to clean up... If I were a gambling man, my money would be on sustainable aviation fuels and e-fuels to be the solution to battery density problem. It doesn't fix the problem of air pollution, but it would be a huge step forward for reducing the carbon footprint of a polluting industry.
It's great to see Airbus set themselves a challenge of being carbon neutral by 2050, but it's right to be sceptical about such claims. The focus on hybrid planes and sustainable aviation fuels is likely to be key in the short term, and makes use of technology that already exists - we just need businesses to have the confidence to build it.
"When we spoke to the airlines, they said, 'Well why don't you go hybrid initially, instead of full electric from the start?'"
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