Research points towards feasible electric airplanes
Electric motors have come a long way in relation to cars, but American scientists have now unveiled research that would enable high-powered, ultra-reliable electromagnetic engines to be built for airplanes . Using lightweight superconductors and emission-free hydrogen fuel cells to get around the problems experienced by previous attempts, these electric planes would be eco-friendly, exceptionally quiet and highly energy efficient as well as dramatically cutting down on maintenance costs through the elimination of engine hydraulics. This is an exciting convergence of technology with amazing implications throughout the transport sector.
Most current commercial aircraft use turbofans or turboprops to generate forwards thrust. Current systems based on gas turbines have proven very reliable but operate at low efficiency and produce large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions - a single long-haul flight pumps the equivalent of a tonne of carbon dioxide per passenger into the atmosphere. Furthermore, hydraulic actuators are very heavy and maintenance-intensive; they’re the cause of around 70% of maintenance faults in airplanes. Thus the existing technology is clearly a compromise.
Earlier attempts at fitting planes with electric engines were thwarted by the size and weight of the magnets required to produce a sufficiently strong magnetic field, but new research published recently in the Institute of Physics Journal, Superconductor Science and Technology, postulates that the use of superconductors with hydrogen -based power plants can produce commercially feasible electric airplane propulsion systems.
