Slower air travel to reduce environmental impact. - Could flight times for holidays increase in the future?
In this scenario, fossil energy resources can only be substituted with renewable ones in an indirect manner for aviation. Scientists are contemplating new propulsion fuels and alternatives, such as biofuels and e-fuels, electric propulsion, and fuel cells, to support more environmentally sustainable flying.
A recent study from the German Bundestag's Technology Assessment Office (TAB) indicates that the ecological influence of air travel could be substantially reduced while sustaining economic competitiveness.
Dr. Björn Nagel, the Director of the Hamburg DLR Institute for System Architectures in Aviation, asserts that the aviation industry's impact on the environment could be decreased by at least 80%.
The analysis further highlights that the energy requirements for sustainable fuels are immense. As a result, other solutions are required, not only concerning fuel and propulsion but also in terms of route planning.
Prolonged flight durations for the sake of the climate
As mentioned by Prof. Dr. Jens Friedrichs of the Institute for Propulsion and Turbomachinery at the Technical University of Braunschweig, "slower flying" is a pivotal concept that entails significant energy savings through a decline in flight speed, but at the cost of travel time.
Current aircraft are optimized for a particular speed level at a specific altitude. Consequently, a complete redesign of an aircraft for slower flight speed is necessary.
"Studies suggest that, for instance, reducing the speed of a large jet engine by about 20-25% with highly efficient propellers and other adjustments could save around 10-15% fuel - despite employing the same technologies," notes Prof. Friedrichs.
Prof. Friedrichs estimates: "For instance, if we consider a 3-hour flight presently, with 2 hours of actual flight time (the remaining time being takeoff, climb, and landing/landing), a 20% reduction would approximately translate to an additional 24 minutes in flight duration - which is manageable. Now, if we consider a 12-hour flight in which 10.5 hours are actual flight time, a 20% extension would already exceed 2 hours - making it less appealing for passengers."
Practically, the slow-flying strategy would initially be used for medium-distance flights. However, its applicability to long-distance flights hinges on the passengers' expectations.
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Source: symclub.org
