NASA Designing World’s Most Efficient, Green Plane

Green transit is increasingly looking up, and now especially as NASA is turning its vision to commercial aviation to build the world’s most efficient plane.

The trend isn’t new, but the principal player is.

For several years, the airline industry has been experimenting with alternative fuels, ranging fro biofuels all the way to cooking oil. So, while planes have become more aerodynamic to reduce fuel consumption, NASA is look for a great leap – or flight – forward.

And, with good reason.

Fuel can consumer up to one-third of an airline’s total operations budget. The NASA project has been called N+3 because it seeks to develop planes that could be used three generations into the future.

As part of the process, it mandates major alterations in the way airplanes are made and fueled. NASA’s goal, according to some reports, is to employ designs tht will be as much as 70 percent more fuel efficient than current passenger aircraft and reduce certain emissions by 75 percent.

To date, players potentially working with NASA include Lockheed, Boeing and GE Aviation.

But don’t book your ticket yet. It could be another 20 years before these innovations are carrying commercial passengers.

Category: Commercial