High up in the clouds, out of sight for the majority of those on the ground, there is a complex world of air traffic which few people, other than pilots, scientists and air traffic controllers, understand. Fortunately for the masses, SESAR, the body responsible for the Single European Sky and general air traffic management research [...]

How could you travel 1,500 miles away without using fossil fuel? It would be an incredibly long trip on foot, or by bicycle, and that’s without thinking about crossing water. The answer to this question is in fact, by airplane. Betrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, the Swiss pilots and pioneers of the Solar Impulse are [...]

In light of the announcements in aircraft design, biofuel production, and air traffic management implementation made recently, with three major developments at the 6th Aviation and Environment Summit alone, advances in futuristic ideas for aviation are appearing in abundance. There seems to be an exponential curve characterising technology, and the following are spectacular examples. The [...]

Airshows come and go, and are generally an opportunity for manufacturers and airlines to shake a hands on some new business as aviation continues to fortify its position as an industry the modern, globalised, and interdependent world cannot live without. One such event was the Singapore Airshow, which took place last week. It included the [...]

Having already spoken on NASA’s activities with Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman recently, NASA have released further information on their N+3 and N+4 prototypes and technologies (the term ‘N+3’, denoting three generations beyond the current commercial transport fleet). Phase one of the N+3 concepts were completed in 2010, and have been used as a bed [...]

Southwest Airlines has introduced a ‘new sleek cabin experience’ called Evolve, designed to enhance flyer comfort and improve the efficiency of its fleet, effectively killing two birds with one stone – comfort and reduction of the airline’s environmental impact in return for aircraft renovation. “We are preparing now for our next 40 years with a [...]

Electricity has become a formidable opponent to fossil fuels in recent times as it reaches into copious areas of development in technology. Its employment is welcomed with open arms by the environmentally conscientious for its reduced carbon footprint and silent work. Taking these characteristics into account leaves little else to be explained with regards as [...]

More often than not, it is aircraft manufacturers and airlines that receive the most credit for reducing carbon emissions and making developments in sustainable aviation, but there is one sector in the industry which does not always get the credit it deserves, the sector which aircraft could not possibly do without, simply because they would [...]

The latest news on biofuel from the aviation sector suggests a trend: Biofuel is going Latin! Thanks to an ambitious action program (reported on Enviro.aero earlier) the Mexican carrier Interjet operated a commercial flight partially powered by biofuel – the first of its kind in Latin America – between the cities of Mexico City and [...]

…come in. As reported earlier on PlaneTalking, last year Alice Springs Airport became the first Australian airport to have a large scale photovoltaic system providing a direct source of renewable energy to itsinternal grid. One year later, it is time for an evaluation: The 28 SolFocus arrays, each eight metres wide and seven metres high, [...]