dilluns, 16 de desembre del 2019

World's first fully electric commercial aircraft takes flight in Canada


An all-electric powered seaplane has taken flight in Vancouver, Canada, in what the operators describe as a "world first" for the aviation industry.


The world’s first fully electric commercial aircraft has taken its inaugural test flight, taking off from the Canadian city of Vancouver and flying for 15 minutes.
“This proves that commercial aviation in all-electric form can work,” said Roei Ganzarski, chief executive of Australian engineering firm magniX.
The company designed the plane’s motor and worked in partnership with Harbour Air, which ferries half a million passengers a year between Vancouver, Whistler ski resort and nearby islands and coastal communities.

The world’s first electric commercial during its maiden flight in Richmond, British Columbia
Ganzarski said the technology would mean significant cost savings for airlines and zero emissions. “This signifies the start of the electric aviation age,” he said.
Civil aviation is one of the fastest-growing sources of carbon emissions as people increasingly take to the skies, and new technologies have been slow to get off the ground.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has encouraged greater use of efficient biofuel engines and lighter aircraft materials, as well as route optimisation.

The Union Oil Company’s oil spill in February 1969—which covered 800 square miles of ocean and shore in Santa Barbara, California, in crude oil—was widely televised, and it inspired then-Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin to organize the first Earth Day in 1970. That same year, the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 went into effect, requiring every major decision of the federal government to be evaluated for its impact on the environment.

Farmers in Illinois spray Syndeet, an insecticide containing DDT, in 1948. Although a Nobel Prize was awarded for the discovery of DDT, scientists eventually realized that the chemical was causing problems in the environment, including thinning the shells of birds' eggs. In 1972, DDT was finally banned and bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and many other endangered bird species returned from the brink of

Before the Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act in 1972, regulators were not required to consider the impacts of pesticides on human and environmental health. Farmers like the one dusting an orange grove with rust mite pesticide are now entitled to truth in advertising for pesticides.

The e-plane – a 62-year-old, six-passenger DHC-2 de Havilland Beaver seaplane retrofitted with an electric motor – was piloted by Greg McDougall, founder and chief executive of Harbour Air. “For me that flight was just like flying a Beaver, but it was a Beaver on electric steroids. I actually had to back off on the power,” he said.
McDougall took the plane on a short loop along the Fraser River near Vancouver international airport in front of around 100 onlookers soon after sunrise. The flight lasted less than 15 minutes, according to an AFP journalist on the scene.
“Our goal is to actually electrify the entire fleet,” said McDougall.
In 1952, the Cuyahoga River near downtown Cleveland, Ohio, was so polluted that it burst into flames. Twenty years later, Congress passed the Clean Water Act, which created regulations for waste disposal in water. The act aims to make all rivers in the country swimmable and fishable again, including the Colorado River and reservoir, pictured here.

On top of fuel efficiency, the company would save millions in maintenance costs because electric motors require “drastically” less upkeep, Mr McDougall said.
However, Harbour Air will have to wait at least two years before it can begin electrifying its fleet of more than 40 seaplanes.
The e-plane has to be tested further to confirm it is reliable and safe. In addition, the electric motor must be approved and certified by regulators.
Alaskan bush pilot piloting float plane

In Ottawa, transport minister Marc Garneau said ahead of the maiden flight that he had his “fingers crossed that the electric plane will work well”. If it does, he said: “It could set a trend for more environmentally friendly flying.”
Battery power is also a challenge. An aircraft like the one flown on Tuesday could fly only about 160km on lithium battery power, said Ganzarski. While that’s not far, it’s sufficient for the majority of short-haul flights run by Harbour Air.
“The range now is not where we’d love it to be, but it’s enough to start the revolution,” said Ganzarski, who predicts batteries and electric motors will eventually be developed to power longer flights.
While the world waits, he said cheaper short-haul flights powered by electricity could transform the way people connect and where they work. “If people are willing to drive an hour to work, why not fly 15 minutes to work?” he said.


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