Preparing for take-off - A cheaper, cleaner way for the long taxi to the runway

Engines on airliners are highly efficient when they are in flight, but not when operating on the ground. When a plane is taxiing under its own power, the engines burn vast amounts of fuel. A Boeing 747 can consume a tonne of fuel and emit several tonnes of carbon dioxide during an average 17-minute taxi to take-off. And when the aircraft lands there is likely to be another long drive to the passenger gate. Which is why there are various methods being developed for aircraft to use other means of propulsion while moving around an airport.

Towing aircraft with a tug, similar to how they are pushed back from the gate, is one way. But constantly pulling on the front landing gear can lead to mechanical problems. Many pilots would also prefer to be in control of the driving once their aircraft is on the taxiway.

Navy Scientists Are Figuring Out How To Turn Seawater Into Jet Fuel

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is on the verge of a breakthrough process that transforms seawater into jet fuel.

Though it sounds too good to be true, the scientists at NRL are developing a process that extracts carbon dioxide (CO2) and produces hydrogen gas (H2) from seawater. The gases are then converted into liquids and combined, thus creating viable jet fuel.

The successful implementation of this technology could mean unlimited fuel resources for the Navy, and would address the current difficulty of refueling at sea. The new technology would also be less of an environmental—as well as financial—burden, and would allow the U.S. Navy to become more independent of foreign oil sources.

"The potential payoff is the ability to produce JP-5 fuel stock at sea reducing the logistics tail on fuel delivery with no environmental burden and increasing the Navy's energy security and independence," research chemist Dr. Heather Willauer said in a Navy press release.

Airbus, Boeing, Embraer collaborate on aviation biofuel development

Airbus, Boeing and Embraer today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work together on the development of drop-in, affordable aviation biofuels. The three leading airframe manufacturers agreed to seek collaborative opportunities to speak in unity to government, biofuel producers and other key stakeholders to support, promote and accelerate the availability of sustainable new jet fuel sources.

Airbus President and CEO Tom Enders, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Jim Albaugh, and Embraer Commercial Aviation President Paulo César Silva, signed the agreement at the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) Aviation and Environment Summit in Geneva.

“We’ve achieved a lot in the last ten years in reducing our industry’s CO2 footprint - a 45 percent traffic growth with only three percent more fuel consumption,” said Tom Enders. The production and use of sustainable quantities of aviation biofuels is key to meeting our industry's ambitious CO2 reduction targets and we are helping to do this through R+T, our expanding network of worldwide value chains and supporting the EU commission towards its target of four per cent of biofuel for aviation by 2020."

Focus On Fuel Savings

As mergers, consolidation and a stressed operational environment reshape commercial aviation, fuel efficiency has risen to the top of airline business concerns. Not only is it the industry’s single biggest expense, but economic and environmental pressures are forcing carriers to watch fuel consumption like a hawk.

According to Airlines for America’s (A4A) January 2012 state-of-the-industry report, the fuel price per gallon has been the greatest cost input increase of the past decade, up 267% between 2000 and the second quarter of 2011. A4A points out that even as airlines use less fuel, they must pay more for it. In 2010, U.S. airlines used 47.4 million gallons of fuel a day, totaling $38.8 billion that year, based on an A4A analysis of Bureau of Transportation Statistics data. The numbers for November 2011 show airlines used 48.3 million gallons of fuel daily, up about 1.9% from 2010, but paid $49.8 billion to fill their tanks, up more than 28%. Moreover, A4A notes jet fuel prices have been climbing steadily since mid-December 2011.

Searching for new ways to economize on fuel has become a priority of the highest order. Whether adopting best practices via mergers, as United and Continental have done, or looking to technology for solutions, airlines are looking into all corners of their operations to push down fuel costs.

Stung by fuel, LAN embraces RNP navigation tools

LAN Crew preparing for next flight

Stung by higher fuel costs, LAN Airlines flew Latin America's first flight on Thursday using a navigational system from takeoff to landing that it says will save time and money and reduce pollution.

LAN said the Required Navigation Performance system by General Electric will cut 19 miles, 6.3 minutes, 67.5 gallons of fuel and 1,420 pounds of carbon emissions from each flight on its popular Cusco-Lima route, which takes tourists from the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in the treacherous Andes to the capital on the Pacific Coast.

Though components of the technology have been around since the mid-1990s and are used on landings at some airports around the world, GE said Thursday's flight was unusual because the satellite-based technology was used along the entire journey.

NASA Offers Reward For Green Propellant

NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions Program is looking for “green” alternatives to toxic hydrazine as a storable propellant for spacecraft, offering contracts worth as much as $50 million each to researchers with promising ideas.

The agency is seeking proposals for demonstrations of systems that use storable monopropellants or bipropellants that are safer than hydrazine to generate spacecraft propulsion and power. The broad area announcement, which is available at http://go.usa.gov/Qbx, calls for complete integrated systems that include engines, tanks, valves, injectors, igniters, thrust chambers and propellant-control systems.

easyJet to trial greener electric taxiing

UK-based bargain airline easyJet has thrown its weight behind the development of an electric taxiing system in a bid to cut its fuel consumption and enhance its environmental credibility.

The "electric green taxiing system" (EGTS) is a joint venture by engineering and aerospace conglomerates Honeywell and Safran. Safran claims that four percent of easyJet's fuel consumption is used taxiing aircraft before take off and after landing from and to gates.

Four percent may not sound much, but it's a figure that's higher than the norm for budget airlines like easyJet which typically have a high turnover of short-haul flights and so spend a proportionately higher amount of time on the ground. easyJet's planes are thought to average 20 minutes of taxiing time per flight, amounting to 3.5 million ground-miles a year over its entire fleet.