rapidly by around 16.7 million due to the coronavirus pandemic — aviation plays a significant role in economic success , commerce , and recreation . But , the level of pollution that sparked change among airline operators to adopt more sustainable solutions .
Present efforts are focused on creating hybrid aircraft models or adopting SAF to reduce emissions by as much as 80 % for trips abroad , but questions abound whether all-electric would be a suitable solution for long-term industry use .
“ There ' s going to be a crossover point , whereby if you fly longer and longer ranges , you ' re going to need hybrid power to match the energy density of the fossil fuels ,” says Xu .
“SCALABILITY ALSO COMES INTO THE VERTICAL TAKE-OFF DIMENSION ”
JIA XU CTO , HONEYWELL UAM AND UAS
“ There are alternatives . You can use a hydrogen fuel-cell system , which would be the same kind of backend prime mover , providing that sustained high energy density for the electric motor at the front . But , more than likely , with that hybrid system , you ' re still going to need electric motors at the front .
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