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In 2019 there was huge global growth in environmental awareness. This growth was so extreme that aviation, one of the largest growing industries worldwide, saw a drop in domestic passenger numbers in many European countries.
This trend has even led to new vocabulary. Flyskam is the Swedish term for “flight-shame,” a feeling which caused the Swedish national rail company, SJ, to report a nearly 10 percent growth in passenger numbers, while competing airlines reported a drop at the same time. Airplane manufacturers and airlines have noticed this increased awareness of the environment and the personal carbon footprint, and in reaction they have started working to decrease their carbon footprint.
However, to say airlines are working to decrease their carbon footprint is a bit of a stretch. When the oil crisis occurred in 1973, followed shortly by the deregulation of airlines in the United States, several large airlines were put to an end. One of these airlines was Pan Am, the largest and most iconic in the western hemisphere, forcing airlines to increasingly worry about reducing fuel costs. Since 2018, no American passenger airline has flown any airplane with more than two engines, largely due to the fuel costs associated with using more engines. At the same time, every new airplane is marketed by its manufacturer as more fuel-efficient than any competing airplanes. The decrease in the carbon footprint is therefore only a lucky side effect of the airlines’ hunger for profits.
To further decrease airplanes’ carbon footprints, there needs to be a greater change than just increased efficiency; airplanes need to find a new source of power. Much like in the automobile industry, many manufacturers are investing heavily into electric airplanes. In December 2019, Vancouver-based floatplane operator Harbour Air became the first operator to fly a commercial electric flight. The craft was flying a six-seater De Haviland Beaver built in 1956 that was recently converted to operate with an electric engine. MagniX, the company that built the Beaver’s electric engine, excitedly called this the “start of a third era in aviation–the electric age.”
Other companies are also working on electric airplanes that they hope can replace jet fuel powered airplanes. Most notably, Airbus, who became the world’s largest airplane manufacturer in 2019 due to problems with rival Boeing, has launched small, two-seater test electric airplanes. The company expects the first flight of its hybrid E-Fan X, a BAE 146 regional jet with space for about 100 seats and one of the four turbofan engines replaced with an electric engine, to have its first flight in 2021.
However, there are still some major obstacles that must be overcome before widespread electric flight will become commercially viable. The weight of the airplane is one of the most important aspects regarding its ability to fly. Current jet fuels are excellent energy sources for airplanes; the Verge reported that in 2018, jet fuel gives off 43 times as much energy as a battery weighing the same. The relationship of energy output to weight is called energy density, and it is the biggest metric delaying electric flight. However, the energy density of electric engines is constantly improving, and it is already good enough for viable trainer aircraft, though there are still many years before the intercontinental jets will be electric.
Until that time, using trains instead of airplanes or flying with airlines like Scandinavian Airlines that offer carbon footprint offsetting programs may be the best option for environmentally conscious travelers.
