Aviation

[Sigmetnow]

Time for Aviation to have its own thread.  Airplanes, helicopters, blimps, balloons, drones.  Flying cars?  Space tourism? 
Aviation's contribution to greenhouse gasses.  And, giving up flying for the sake of your carbon footprint:

http://qz.com/129477/why-im-never-flying-again/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/10/01/meteorologist-eric-holthaus-vow-to-never-to-fly-again-draws-praise-criticism/

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/10/plane_carbon_footprint_i_went_a_year_without_flying_to_fight_climate_change.html


Here's the solar-and-battery-powered Solar Impulse 2 landing in Dayton, Ohio (home of the Wright brothers!) under an almost-full moon.  Solar Impulse is flying around the world using no fuel, to encourage the growth of green energy.

https://twitter.com/solarimpulse/status/734178311161708545

https://twitter.com/andreborschberg/status/734204267653943296

https://twitter.com/andreborschberg/status/733954974124630016

https://twitter.com/solarimpulse/status/734176981252722688

[timallard]

Aircraft & shipping weren't regulated in Paris and that blows us by 2C on the face of it.

I found this today of Boeing's test flight of 50-50 biodiesel, that's good news is some ways yet doesn't relieve the industry of putting greenhouse gases directly into the stratosphere, sources on the ground take time to drift up & of course plants & soils absorb it.

That's a big deal, we're at 3-ppm/year, Pleistocene average 1-ppm/1000-years, big jump up end of the last ice-age 1-ppm/180-years, it's acidifying the oceans 10-times faster than the PETM time to wake up.

At 405-ppm we're committed to 25m/82ft of sea-level rise it's only how fast, recall that sea-level doesn't stop until centuries after CO2 turns around, consider that.

Do you really need to fly?

The metrics prove the situation is indelible geologically speaking, consider leaving the Steam Age for electricity a good move as well.

[mati]

the airline industry is looking at interesting ways to save fuel:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TaxiBot
http://www.taxibot-international.com/

http://www.greentaxiing.com/overview.html

[Sigmetnow]

Larry Page is secretively behind two electric aircraft startups, financing them with over $100 million

The aircraft are often referred to as “flying-cars” because the prototypes are often only for 1 to 4 passengers and can only travel relatively short distances. What is particularly interesting, and something we noted in our last report, is that most of those concepts are basically “manned-drone”, meaning that they are autonomous vehicles.

Self-piloting is a lot easier to achieve than self-driving, something Page is also working on through Google, since you don’t have to deal with all the corner cases of two-dimensional roads. It’s a lot easier to autonomously deal with air traffic, takeoff and landing.

http://electrek.co/2016/06/09/larry-page-behind-two-electric-aircraft-startup/

[Sigmetnow]

NASA Researchers advance propulsion toward low-carbon aircraft

One of NASA’s goals is to help the aircraft industry shift from relying solely on gas turbines to using hybrid electric and turboelectric propulsion in order to reduce energy consumption, emissions and noise.

“Aircraft are highly complex machines,” says Jim Heidmann, manager for NASA’s Advanced Air Transport Technology project. “Moving toward alternative systems requires creating new aircraft designs as well as propulsion systems that integrate battery technologies and electromagnetic machines like motors and generators with more efficient engines.”

Glenn researchers are looking at power systems that generate electricity in place of, or in addition to, thrust at the turbine engine and then convert that electricity to be converted into thrust using fans at other places on the aircraft.

http://climate.nasa.gov/news/2383/

[mati]

I really dont think that NASA idea will fly.
Getting the airlines to use bio generated fuels or a mixture will be much more probable and cost effective. 
Also there are much bigger fish to fry than the airline industry.....

[Sigmetnow]

I really dont think that NASA idea will fly.
Getting the airlines to use bio generated fuels or a mixture will be much more probable and cost effective. 
Also there are much bigger fish to fry than the airline industry.....

I think NASA is looking further ahead, developing new technologies to replace traditional turbine jet engines -- in the way that hybrids, then full-electric cars, are moving beyond gasoline and ethanol-blended or diesel ICE cars.  Aviation biofuels may help in the short run, but long-term, we need something completely different. 

[Sigmetnow]

Bunch of videos on Transforming Aviation from the AIAA Aviation 2016 conference.
AIAA on Livestream.

[Sigmetnow]

NASA will spend the next 4 years innovating electric passenger plane transport with the 175mph ‘X-57’

NASA today unveiled plans to spend the next decade working on electric planes under the ‘X-57’ moniker. The X-Plane program has traditionally been used by NASA to further aviation so this is a big deal more than just a pet project or some 3D renders.

http://electrek.co/2016/06/17/nasa-will-spend-the-next-4-years-innovating-175mph-electric-passenger-plane-under-x-57-project/

[timallard]

I really dont think that NASA idea will fly.
Getting the airlines to use bio generated fuels or a mixture will be much more probable and cost effective. 
Also there are much bigger fish to fry than the airline industry.....

Actually aircraft are horrible direct polluters of the stratosphere injecting CO2 there is instant forcing, if you burn something on the ground it has to migrate up that takes a while.

Also, shipping and aircraft weren't regulated by Paris being needed by the cross-borders-for-slave-labor system of profit-making, so we blow by 2C/3.6F like a glance out the window on the freeway.

Aircraft should be limited to low-elevation flying only, biodiesel from algae made from wastewater effluent humanity has megatons of it not cooking oil thank you, passenger onlym emergency freight & medical flights.

Or is getting that gizmo in overnight delivery too compelling and just forget the gesture why bother it's another false-flag feel-good does-nothing stall is all?

[plinius]

Actually aircraft are horrible direct polluters of the stratosphere injecting CO2 there is instant forcing, if you burn something on the ground it has to migrate up that takes a while.

Pathetic nonsense, sorry to be that rough, but just have a glimpse at atmospheric physics basics, before you rant around here and think you can teach others about the world.

Also, shipping and aircraft weren't regulated by Paris being needed by the cross-borders-for-slave-labor system of profit-making, so we blow by 2C/3.6F like a glance out the window on the freeway.
Aircraft should be limited to low-elevation flying only, biodiesel from algae made from wastewater effluent humanity has megatons of it not cooking oil thank you, passenger onlym emergency freight & medical flights.
Or is getting that gizmo in overnight delivery too compelling and just forget the gesture why bother it's another false-flag feel-good does-nothing stall is all?

Sorry, what?

[mati]

I really dont think that NASA idea will fly.
Getting the airlines to use bio generated fuels or a mixture will be much more probable and cost effective. 
Also there are much bigger fish to fry than the airline industry.....

I think NASA is looking further ahead, developing new technologies to replace traditional turbine jet engines -- in the way that hybrids, then full-electric cars, are moving beyond gasoline and ethanol-blended or diesel ICE cars.  Aviation biofuels may help in the short run, but long-term, we need something completely different. 

all of this is great, being on the ground, but in the air, the power need to run airplanes close to the speed of sound is not an insignifiant problems.. true for the small airplane market it may work, but insignificant in what effect they will have on global co2

[plinius]

I agree.  Though the question is of course - do we really need to travel at the speed of sound? If I had the choice between a very comfortable 20 hours ride across the Atlantic with a seat in which you can go horizontal, decent wireless and proper food, I would choose that easily above a 10 hour ride in the current discomfort.

[Sigmetnow]

And then there's Solar Impulse 2, the solar-powered airplane -- currently crossing the Atlantic Ocean headed for Seville Spain:
http://www.solarimpulse.com

✨ #Si2 took off this morning from JFK @NY_NJairports #NYC at 2:30AM EDT, relive it here:
https://twitter.com/solarimpulse/status/744868911838027776

[timallard]

Actually aircraft are horrible direct polluters of the stratosphere injecting CO2 there is instant forcing, if you burn something on the ground it has to migrate up that takes a while.

Pathetic nonsense, sorry to be that rough, but just have a glimpse at atmospheric physics basics, before you rant around here and think you can teach others about the world.

Also, shipping and aircraft weren't regulated by Paris being needed by the cross-borders-for-slave-labor system of profit-making, so we blow by 2C/3.6F like a glance out the window on the freeway.
Aircraft should be limited to low-elevation flying only, biodiesel from algae made from wastewater effluent humanity has megatons of it not cooking oil thank you, passenger onlym emergency freight & medical flights.
Or is getting that gizmo in overnight delivery too compelling and just forget the gesture why bother it's another false-flag feel-good does-nothing stall is all?

Sorry, what?

And your point was that you didn't understand the reason to not allow aircraft into the stratosphere for a lot of reasons one of them the exhaust is going to spread from there as the source?

I don't get your response at all, if you have a genuine critique open to that, my issue is with the "get it tomorrow" international air-freight business is a huge polluter for-profit $$$ that has no cultural excuse for the collective carbon excursion we're causing geologically using them for that purpose.

Tell us about the physics of CO2 removal from the upper atmosphere and how fast you can accomplish removing the aircraft contribution using fossil fuels, thanks.

[Sigmetnow]

American Airlines flight was cancelled because "the plane was too hot for people to get on."

@crankyflier:  Well this is a new one - @AmericanAir 5288 cxld today b/c, as the gate agents said, the plane was too hot for people to get on

https://twitter.com/crankyflier/status/745713437271982081

AA:  @crankyflier Summer is here! The plane was way too hot to board our customers.

https://twitter.com/americanair/status/745715784765169664

[Sigmetnow]

Solar Impulse 2 completes world’s first solar-powered Atlantic flight
http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/06/solar-impulse-2-first-solar-power-atlantic-flight/

[mati]

Paul Allen building the largest airplane ever made in the world.
The idea is to use the airplane to hoist a rocket up to the stratosphere and then
launching the rocket to put satellites into low earth orbit.

http://www.geekwire.com/2016/paul-allen-stratolaunch-biggest-airplane/

this is similar to the pegasus rocket build by orbital sciences back in the late 1990s (with some of my software in it and the OrbComm satellites)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus_(rocket)

[Stephen]

Paul Allen building the largest airplane ever made in the world.
The idea is to use the airplane to hoist a rocket up to the stratosphere and then
launching the rocket to put satellites into low earth orbit.

http://www.geekwire.com/2016/paul-allen-stratolaunch-biggest-airplane/

this is similar to the pegasus rocket build by orbital sciences back in the late 1990s (with some of my software in it and the OrbComm satellites)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus_(rocket)

Interesting, but I really think that it is time to put more effort into getting old satellites down, rather than easier and cheaper ways to get new satellites up.  Near Earth space is getting very crowded.  it would be great if every new launch was accompanied by a plan to get the satellite back down at the end of it's service life.  Maybe put a $100 mill deposit on every new launch to be refunded when the junk is brought back to Earth.  But who and how such a fee could be collected I do not know.

A bit like putting CO2 into the atmosphere, there is a cost that is not being paid by the companies that make the profit. 

[Sigmetnow]

Siemens 260 kW electric aircraft motor makes first public flight

Siemens researchers have developed a new type of electric motor that delivers a continuous output of about 260 kW and weighs 50 kg. The new drive system, designed for a joint project of Siemens and Airbus to develop electrified aircraft, recently made its maiden flight in an Extra 330LE aerobatic airplane.

“This day will change aviation,” said Frank Anton, Siemens’ head of eAircraft. “This is the first time that an electric aircraft in the quarter-megawatt performance class has flown.” The Extra 330LE, which weighs about 1,000 kg, is particularly well suited to serve as a flying test bed for the new propulsion system.

Siemens and Airbus plan to use the new motor as a basis for developing regional airliners powered by hybrid propulsion systems. “By 2030, we expect to see initial aircraft with up to 100 passengers and a range of around 1,000 kilometers,” said Anton.

https://chargedevs.com/newswire/siemens-260-kw-electric-aircraft-motor-makes-first-public-flight/

[Sigmetnow]

Solar Impulse 2:  "Further without fuel, over the Pyramids"
https://twitter.com/solarimpulse/status/753086149686689792

[solartim27]

That air looks pretty thick.  I wonder what's in it, sand , dust, smog, etc.....?

[Sigmetnow]

That air looks pretty thick.  I wonder what's in it, sand , dust, smog, etc.....?

Not sure, but:
- the overflight occurred around sunrise, and
- air pollution is a known problem in the area

[Sigmetnow]

Human-powered aircraft! 

Solar Impulse 2:  Tonight there will be 4km of taxiing #Si2 and everyone is invited to help in the team to push&pull the aircraft

https://twitter.com/solarimpulse/status/754343312383938560

[JimD]

.........
Actually aircraft are horrible direct polluters of the stratosphere injecting CO2 there is instant forcing, if you burn something on the ground it has to migrate up that takes a while.
......

Back in the first topic here on the Form about Planes in 2013 there was a link which you might find interesting.

...They have discovered that aviation contrails play a huge role in the impact on the climate and an even greater impact than that created by the CO2 emissions produced. While the CO2 emissions from airplanes account for around three percent of the annual CO2 emissions from all fossil fuels and change the radiation by 28 milliwatts per square meter, the aviation contrails are responsible for a change of around 31 milliwatts per square meter.
The only difference is that CO2 has a longer life than that of the contrails, and can still continue to cause warming even hundreds of years down the road.
The researchers believe that while continuing to reduce CO2 emissions in aviation, more work needs to be done to reduce contrails as well. This reduction of contrails could present an immediate effect on global warming. Solutions for this could include such things as creating flight plans at lower altitudes and the development of new airplane engines which would either reduce the water vapor released or immediately condense the water into ice that would drop to the ground below....

http://phys.org/news/2011-03-airplane-contrails-worse-co2-emissions.html

[Sigmetnow]

A fuel fee can reduce airline emissions — but it likely will mean higher airfares, study says

After more than six years of negotiations, representatives of the world’s airline industry reached a tentative agreement on airline emission standards to cut carbon dioxide, the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases.

But environmentalists weren’t pleased, noting that the proposed emissions standards would apply only to new planes delivered after 2023.

Brueckner found one other way to reduce emissions and keep travelers happy: Eliminate delays that result in planes idling with their engines running. If airlines cut the percentage of flight that are delayed from 20% to 17%, that would generate nearly $50 million in annual environmental benefits, the study found.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-travel-briefcase-emissions-20160716-snap-story.html


Hybrid planes (electrically-driven wheels) could be the next big thing:

The patented and proprietary WheelTug® hybrid-electric drive system uses motors in aircraft wheels to provide full mobility while on the ground without the use of the aircraft's jet engines or external tugs for both pushback and taxi operations. WheelTug enables aircraft to be electrically driven from the terminal gate to the takeoff runway, and upon landing from runway exit to the gate. Yearly per-aircraft savings exceed $500,000.   The company plans to begin deliveries of certificated production models by early 2013, for narrow body aircraft including the Boeing 737NG and Airbus A320 families.

http://www.idtechex.com/events/presentations/hybrid-aircraft-electric-drive-for-ground-taxi-boeing-trial-002975.asp

[Sigmetnow]

 For the uninitiated: a Slurpee is your basic large sugary drink with lots of crushed ice.

7-Eleven delivers by drone in Reno including, yes, Slurpees

During the 7-Eleven delivery, which took place in Reno, Nevada on July 10th, Flirtey successfully transported: Slurpees, a chicken sandwich, donuts, hot coffee and candy to the home of the family who placed the order.

https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/22/7-eleven-delivers-by-drone-in-reno-including-yes-slurpees/

[Sigmetnow]

ZERO-FUEL SOLAR IMPULSE TO COMPLETE ROUND-THE-WORLD FLIGHT

The 17th and final leg of the journey was delayed as a result of a heatwave over the Middle East, which threatened to damage onboard electronics.

“The heatwave over the Middle East has challenged the Solar Impulse team, almost more than the crossing of the Pacific or Atlantic to everyone’s astonishment,” a spokesperson for the Solar Impulse team tells Newsweek.

http://www.newsweek.com/zero-fuel-solar-impulse-complete-round-world-trip-483692

[Sigmetnow]

Solar Impulse completes historic round-the-world trip
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36890563

[Sigmetnow]

Next Item on Obama’s Climate Agenda: Airplane Pollution

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Monday announced its plan to start regulating planet-warming pollution from airplanes, setting off a battle between environmentalists and the airline industry.

The plan to curb airplane emissions comes as President Obama looks to strengthen his climate change legacy with new policies in the waning months of his administration. The airline rules would be among the final pieces of his sweeping and contentious second-term climate agenda, which has included rules to rein in greenhouse pollution from cars, trucks and power plants, and his role in forging last year’s Paris agreement committing nearly 200 countries to take action to reduce emissions that are warming the planet.

The Environmental Protection Agency released the aviation plan, known as an “endangerment finding,” which concludes that the planet-warming pollution produced by airplanes endangers human health by contributing to climate change. The endangerment finding does not include the details of a regulation, but it sets off a legal requirement under the Clean Air Act for the E.P.A. to establish a rule.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/26/us/politics/epa-airplane-pollution.html

[Sigmetnow]

Airplane Finishes Globe-Circling Flight Without a Drop of Fuel

Bertrand Piccard, 58, touched down in his Solar Impulse at 4:05 a.m. in Abu Dhabi, completing the final leg of a 16-month multistage journey, the project team said in a statement Tuesday. The plane has flown 43,041 kilometers (26,750 miles) since starting the trip in March 2015.

“I’m sure that within 10 years, we’ll see electric airplanes transporting 50 passengers on short- to medium-haul flights,” Piccard said in the statement. “But it’s not enough. The same clean technologies used on Solar Impulse could be implemented on the ground in our daily life.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-26/airplane-finishes-globe-circling-flight-without-a-drop-of-fuel


Sun-Powered Airplane Completes Historic Trip Around The World
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/07/26/487458905/sun-powered-airplane-completes-historic-trip-around-the-world

[Anne]

An airship to rival the Airlander?

<snip>The Russian Security Council is reported to have presented a draft to the government for consideration. It envisages 'transport and logistic' corridors linking Siberia, the Far East and the Arctic.
The advanced airships would enable passenger and cargo traffic between, or example, the Northern Sea Route along the north of the Russian land mass, and the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur Mainline railways.
The scheme offers integrated shipping and aviation 'hubs' to create conditions 'for the country to move to a new social and economic level through the deep exploration of Siberia, the Far East and the Arctic', according to a letter on the plan presented to Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.
It is claimed that a single new-style airship could do the work of five Mi-8 helicopters in the Russian far north.
Russia is one of a number of countries where new generation airships are being built. The Augur-RosAeroSystems Holding is set to build the futuristic airship Atlant by the end of 2018.
These vast flying machines have been called 'half plane, half airship', with the versatility to remain in the air for days at a time, and land without requiring a traditional airport.
Larger versions are expected to outsize a Boeing 747.

Pictures and more at the link.
http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/n0707-futuristic-airship-scheme-plan-unveiled-to-transform-siberia-and-the-arctic/

More about the Airlander here:
http://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,1494.0.html

[Sigmetnow]

NASA Pulls Together National Data to Sleuth Out Air Traffic Improvement Mysteries

For the first time ever, air traffic researchers can view and analyze archived flight data collected and merged from all air traffic facilities across the U.S., with fast update rates ranging from one second to 12 seconds for every flight’s position. Previously, researchers only had access to national flight data that was similar to internet flight tracking, with one-minute flight updates and no information about flights on the ground at airports. Or, they had access to separate flight data sets from 77 different Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic facilities, which made research very challenging. NASA’s newly improved tool, the Sherlock Air Traffic Management (ATM) Data Warehouse, merges all of the air traffic facility data to produce analysis-ready, end-to-end flight information at these improved resolutions for the entire U.S. airspace.

NASA is committed to transforming aviation by dramatically reducing its environmental impact and improving efficiency while maintaining safety in more crowded skies. Sherlock will help air traffic management researchers quickly perform large-scale analyses of the U.S. air traffic system, to look for areas where ideas for improvement will have the most benefit in terms of environment, safety and efficiency.

For example, it allows researchers to use actual flight data to answer questions such as, “How much fuel could be saved if all flights into the San Francisco Airport used lower power for their final descent?” Or, “Would more accurate departure schedules reduce delays into busy Northeast airports, and at what rate?” Since new technologies are so costly to deploy in the complex U.S. airspace, finding the regions where they will help the most is very important, as is predicting the benefits to the flying public.

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/nasa-pulls-together-national-data-to-sleuth-out-air-traffic-improvement-mysteries

[Sigmetnow]

When you need a large, flat area for an airport, and it is situated between several rivers and the ocean....

New Jakarta Airport Terminal Floods Just Days After Opening
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/travel/new-jakarta-airport-terminal-floods-just-days-after-opening-n630761

[Sigmetnow]

From July:
Maiden Flight:  World-record electric motor for aircraft

Siemens researchers have developed a new type of electric motor that, with a weight of just 50 kilograms, delivers a continuous output of about 260 kilowatts – five times more than comparable drive systems. This record-setting propulsion system successfully completed its first public flight today at Schwarze Heide Airport near Dinslaken, Germany, where it – almost silently – powered an Extra 330LE aerobatic airplane.

The new drive system had already made its maiden flight on June 24th 2016. This advance means that hybrid-electric aircraft with four or more seats will now be possible. In addition, the company will be contributing this technology to the cooperative project that Siemens and Airbus agreed to in April 2016 for driving the development of electrically powered flight.

Electric drives are scalable, and Siemens and Airbus will be using the record-setting motor as a basis for developing regional airliners powered by hybrid-electric propulsion systems. Siemens is determined to establish hybrid-electric propulsion systems for aircraft as a future area of business.

http://www.siemens.com/press/en/feature/2015/corporate/2015-03-electromotor.php


"By 2030, we expect to see initial aircraft with up to 100 passengers and a range of around 1,000 kilometers."
https://issuu.com/chargedevs/docs/iss_26_issuu.com?e=3746341%2F37908246

[Sigmetnow]

@cityatlas:  Readers questioning advice on flying http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/travel/ecotourism-green-travel-tips.html
 @flyingless @EricHolthaus @revkin @KevinClimate
https://twitter.com/cityatlas/status/777547138251296768

[Sigmetnow]

Solar-Powered Helicopter Takes Flight
A breakthrough design from student inventors

A team of undergraduates at the University of Maryland has developed a four-rotor helicopter equipped with an array of solar panels. The craft took to the air for nine seconds, lifting more than a foot off of the ground. (By point of comparison, the Wright Brothers’ first flight lasted just 12 seconds.)

https://nexusmedianews.com/solar-powered-helicopter-takes-flight-dae94d0a6a07

[Hefaistos]

Aviation industry doesn't want to cut its CO2 emmissions but is preparing for a voluntary agreement to compensate for them:

"To be clear, the 15-year agreement would not force airlines to cut their pollution. Instead, companies would compensate for any emissions growth after the accord begins in 2020 by buying credits that back renewable energy development, forest preservation or other environmental endeavors. ... Officials plan to finalize the agreement during the talks that begin this week, hosted by the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization. ... A key issue will ultimately be determining what types of offsets are permitted. Verifying the ecological integrity of such credits can be notoriously difficult."

“It’s peanuts,” said Bill Hemmings, of the Brussels-based environmental group Transport & Environment. “It gets them off the hook. Without enforced safeguards, it’s a massive green-washing exercise.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-25/airlines-embrace-pollution-plan-that-could-cost-them-24-billion

Also, it's worth reminding that aviation emmissions have a bigger negative impact on climate than just the CO2 emissions due to the contrails.
"aviation contrails play a huge role in the impact on the climate and an even greater impact than that created by the CO2 emissions produced. While the CO2 emissions from airplanes account for around three percent of the annual CO2 emissions from all fossil fuels and change the radiation by 28 milliwatts per square meter, the aviation contrails are responsible for a change of around 31 milliwatts per square meter."

http://phys.org/news/2011-03-airplane-contrails-worse-co2-emissions.html

[Sigmetnow]

The first battery-powered manned helicopter: 20 minutes flight time with 1100 lbs battery pack
https://electrek.co/2016/10/05/first-battery-powered-manned-helicopter/

[Sigmetnow]

ICAO agreement adopted.  By some countries.

Nations have reached a deal to limit the climate impact of the aviation sector. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) agreed to take the first step to address international aviation emissions by adopting a global market-based measure for the sector.

Aviation emissions are projected to consume approximately a quarter of the world’s remaining carbon budget by 2050, highlighting the urgency of reaching an agreement to tackle airline pollution. The agreement will cover an estimated three quarters of international aviation’s expected emissions growth between 2021 and 2035, covering 2.5 billion tons of CO2 emissions or the equivalent of over 700 coal-fired power plants.

More than 60 countries have committed to joining the first phase of the agreement, which is estimated to cost airlines USD $23 billion from 2021 to 2035, representing only three cents on the dollar for the damage of the industry’s CO2 emissions on the environment.

Further ambition is necessary in order to meet ICAO’s own target of carbon neutral growth from 2020. Though the deal aims to limit the aviation sector’s climate impacts, nations deleted key provisions that would have aligned the deal with the Paris Agreement's aim of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees with best efforts to not exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius.

http://climatenexus.org/learn/international-actions/aviation-climate-deal-takes

[Sigmetnow]

Airbus unveils concept for an autonomous electric VTOL aircraft
“The aircraft we’re building doesn’t need a runway, is self-piloted, and can automatically detect and avoid obstacles and other aircraft. Designed to carry a single passenger or cargo, we’re aiming to make it the first certified passenger aircraft without a pilot.”

They have a pretty aggressive timeline to production. They aim to fly a full-size working prototype before the end of 2017, and to have a scalable to production demonstrator by 2020.

Lyasoff sees several technological trends pointing toward manned electric and autonomous aircraft being feasible in the near future:

• Battery safety and energy density are now adequate for airborne applications.
• Low-cost, reliable avionics are becoming broadly available, leveraging decades of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) development.
• Mature obstacle detection and avoidance technology can enable safe aircraft takeoff and landing, and provides reliable collision avoidance in flight.
• Recent advances in automated composite manufacturing and assembly show that small, lightweight vehicles can be produced at high volumes and significantly lower costs than traditional aerospace methods have previously allowed.
...
The company sees the concept being used in what they call ” truly vertical cities” with predetermined flight paths for autonomous aircraft carrying passengers – virtually creating an autonomous flying electric taxi service.

https://electrek.co/2016/10/24/airbus-unveils-concept-autonomous-electric-vtol-aircraft/

[Sigmetnow]

Add a third runway to London's Heathrow airport?  It might reduce fuel wasted in taxiing delays and flying holding patterns, but that would be offset by the additional traffic.

Heathrow approval puts business above political and environment issues
Post-Brexit vote economic considerations appear to have guided Theresa May’s decision, which will face broad opposition

The independent commission charged with deciding whether a new runway should be built in the UK started a report last year by declaring that air links were vital for the economy, trade and investment. It went on to select Heathrow as the best site. After 15 months of deliberation, on Tuesday, the government backed this verdict.
...
The truth is that sharp cuts in global emissions are urgently required and one-quarter of Britain’s carbon budget will need to be splurged on aviation by 2050, according to the Committee on Climate Change.

Even keeping aviation emissions to this level requires increasingly efficient planes, biofuels and carbon taxes running into the hundreds of pounds per ticket. The committee has asked the government to come up with a strategy to show how these actions can be implemented.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/oct/25/heathrow-approval-business-political-environmental-issues

[Sigmetnow]

First picture of what is believed to be Larry Page’s electric VTOL aircraft

The first electric and VTOL aircraft by Zee.Aero, a startup reportedly heavily funded by Google co-founder Larry Page, is believed to have been spotted at the Hollister Airport in California, where the company has a hangar.

The aircraft has been called a ‘flying car’, but the term should really be retired since the vehicle has little to do with a car. It’s a battery-powered aircraft capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL).

The picture [below] was recently taken by Steve Eggleston, who works next to the airport, and he claims to have seen the aircraft hover quietly over the tarmac before being able to take the picture. The vehicle was quickly brought back inside Zee.Aero’s building.

https://electrek.co/2016/10/25/first-picture-of-what-is-believed-to-be-larry-pages-electric-vtol-aircraft/

[johnm33]

Never mind a new runway at Heathrow,[I have to own that i think if we must then Boris's estuarine island if it included a tidal barage would be a better idea].
 https://thenanfang.com/china-to-boost-airport-infrastructure-by-billions/

[Hefaistos]

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects 7.2 billion passengers to travel in 2035, a near doubling of the 3.8 billion air travelers in 2016. The prediction is based on a 3.7% annual Compound Average Growth Rate (CAGR) noted in the release of the latest update to the association’s 20-Year Air Passenger Forecast.

“People want to fly. Demand for air travel over the next two decades is set to double. Enabling people and nations to trade, explore, and share the benefits of innovation and economic prosperity makes our world a better place,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO. 
"...the biggest driver of demand will be the Asia-Pacific region. It is expected to be the source of more than half the new passengers over the next 20 years. China will displace the US as the world’s largest aviation market (defined by traffic to, from and within the country) around 2024*.
India will displace the UK for third place in 2025*, while Indonesia enters the top ten ..."

Terrible. What on earth (or in the sky) will stop this myopic madness?

http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/Pages/2016-10-18-02.aspx

[Sigmetnow]

Terrible. What on earth (or in the sky) will stop this myopic madness?

Hyperloop?   

[Pmt111500]

... said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO. 
"...the biggest driver of demand will be the Asia-Pacific region. It is expected to be the source of more than half the new passengers over the next 20 years. China will displace the US as the world’s largest aviation market (defined by traffic to, from and within the country) around 2024*.
India will displace the UK for third place in 2025*, while Indonesia enters the top ten ..."

Terrible. What on earth (or in the sky) will stop this myopic madness?

Ah, they're still talking about growth? With the new president-elect I'm afraid there's nothing to stop this. Some people still need to travel, at least to exchange secure one-time codes for communications. Possibly it's time to start praying.

[Sigmetnow]

Interview with "Swiss aviator Bertrand Piccard, whose paternal lineage of explorers led him to attempt the seemingly impossible task of flying without fuel."

"The world of aviation did not believe that a solar-powered plane could be made"
http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/The-world-of-aviation-did-not-believe-that-a-solar-powered-plane-could-be-made/article16711735.ece

[Sigmetnow]

Electric VTOL aircraft are coming: money is flowing to several startups developing different designs

Battery energy density is starting to get high enough to allow for electric air travel, and several companies, increasingly backed by significant investors, are now seriously working on bringing electric aircraft to market.

https://electrek.co/2016/12/05/electric-vtol-aircraft-money-flowing-startups/

[Sigmetnow]

Electric airplane with Siemens drive system sets ascent record

...Siemens will bring this technology to its electric flight collaboration with Airbus. The two companies hope to prove the technical feasibility of hybrid electric drive systems for regional aircraft by 2020. This will require power ratings of up to 10 megawatts. “We expect to see the first aircraft with up to 100 passengers and a range of approximately 1,000 kilometers by 2030,” said Anton.

https://chargedevs.com/newswire/electric-airplane-with-siemens-drive-system-sets-ascent-record/