Program note: PBS Nova "Great Electric Airplane Race" 5/26 @ 9 p.m.

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GRA

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https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/great-electric-airplane-race/


While I'm always interested in this stuff, an indication of how limited I think BEV a/c will be was the description in a recent PBS Newshour segment of the relative capability of a prototype BEV conversion of a Cessna Caravan vs. the standard fossil-fuel Turboprop: 4 pax for 100 miles vs. 9 pax. for 900 miles.

In short, an large, expensive a/c with limited payload only suitable for air taxi, puddle jumping or limited training. Any ZEV a/c task requiring medium or long range with commercially acceptable payloads* will, barring magic batteries, need either H2 or syn/biofuels.



*HALO PV drones being a likely exception.
 
I saw the show. What I found most interesting was the different airframe design options opened up by using electric propulsion (e.g., using many small propellers). But I don't see this going anywhere using batteries for energy storage. In addition to higher energy density, liquid fuels have the advantage of being consumed during flight so there is a continuous reduction in the weight load. Maybe electric aircraft will be practical someday with H2 fuel cells as the power source.

For the foreseeable future, the only practical way to de-carbonize aviation is by synthetic production of conventional hydrocarbons starting with CO2 extraction from the atomosphere or oceans. The technology for doing this is already available, but is several times more expensive at current oil prices.
 
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