July 5, 2013

Hybrid airliner ‘E-Thrust’ to transform aviation by 2050, make air travel greener

by Sayan Chakravarty

2013 has been a year of hybrid supercars dominating the automotive world, but how about the idea of a hybrid airliner? Aircrafts produce a lot of air and noise pollution, the hybrid technology seems to be a novel and prudent way to curb the menace. The European aerospace consortium or EADS has recently unveiled its electric airliner called the E-Thrust which is being developed in partnership with Rolls-Royce. The E-Thrust concept is a hybrid electric propulsion system that has the potential to radically transform the commercial aviation by 2050.


The E-Thrust technology uses a unique concept of electric fans spread across the length of each wing. Electric power will be produced by onboard gas turbine and will be routed to the electric fans through batteries. The concept will decrease the emission of CO2 and NOX by a huge margin and can cut the noise level by 65%. It sits perfectly with the ‘Flightpath 2050’ plan produced by the European Commission. The sleek airframe further decreases the drag making it more efficient. Rumours suggest, EADS is also developing a concept aircraft covered with solar panels which has the capacity to make commercial flying completely renewable.

[Via – Inhabitat]