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New Eco Airplanes on the way.
mendip_discovery:
https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2023-07-18/ecotricity-boss-dale-vince-to-launch-zero-emissions-airline
--- Quote ---Ecotricity boss Dale Vince launches zero-emissions airline
Dale Vince, the founder of Gloucestershire-based energy company Ecotricity, has launched the world's first zero-emissions airline.
The green energy business boss and owner of Forest Green Rovers has joined forces with aviation specialists for the venture which will see the creation of a fleet of 'Ecojet' planes.
How will the zero-emissions airline work?
Ecojet’s fleet will eventually be made from conventional planes which will be fitted with hydrogen-electric power trains. The first retrofits will take place in 2025.
Until then, Ecojet will make use of kerosene fuel, until the hydrogen-electric model becomes approved for service by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Old planes will be repurposed which the businesses says is set to save 90,000 tonnes of carbon per year.
When will the airline begin to fly?
Flights across the UK will begin in 2024 with an Edinburgh to Southampton route and then expand to mainland Europe, with long-haul flights planned for the future.
Only vegan meals will be served to passengers with no single-use plastic.
Vince's sustainable approaches have been recognised since his time as owner of Forest Green Rovers - which has been named as the world's first ever carbon-neutral football club.
The multimillionaire said: "The question of how to create sustainable air travel has plagued the green movement for decades, Ecojet is by far the most significant step towards a solution to date.
"The desire to travel is deeply etched into the human spirit, and flights free of C02 emissions, powered by renewable energy will allow us to explore our incredible world without harming it for the first time."
--- End quote ---
He is a big eco nut. He is behind the likes of the stop oil protests. His firm does wind turbines and charging points already.
It's going to take some time before the CAA let's the hydrogen or even electric aircraft fly but it's on the way.
tom66:
He divested his EV charging network away to Gridserve a few years ago. The Ecotricity points were notoriously unreliable and underprovisioned (in many cases they had deals with service areas to make theirs the only option - two 50kW units being pretty typical - absolute joke). Once it was sold to a company that actually cared about EV charging the service improved significantly, with the obsolete chargers all being replaced within a year and new sites being added.
There are apparently a few hydrogen-electric aircraft already available though only small body aircraft. The Dash 8 has been converted into part-hydrogen-electric by a company called Universal Hydrogen.
I suspect that the cost of retrofitting something like a 737 will be considerably more than that of a small aircraft.
That being said, bring on the competition for sustainable aviation.
Bryn:
Greta Thunberg will be happy... :-DD
audiotubes:
Does this mean we'll be able to take lithium batteries in our luggage again? :-DD :scared: |O
SiliconWizard:
Should probably go to Dodgy Tech. ;D
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