It's no secret that turbo jet engines are energy hogs. According to sfenvironment.com, airplanes are the source of three to 10 percent of all global warming. This leads us to ask: what is the airplane industry doing to reduce its carbon footprint?
There is a resurgence in the development of propeller-driven aircraft engines underway. Most of the early pioneering in aviation was driven by propellers, including Amelia Earhart's notoriety, Charles Lindbergh's flight around the world, and early commercial airlines. However, there was a serious downfall to propellers' engines: they were loud. Jet engines, on the other hand, were much quieter. This provided a much more relaxing trip and put commercial airline travel on the map.
Rising fuel prices (until recently) and concerns over the environment have forced airplane engineers to go back to the drawing board. Rolls-Royce has just announced that they successfully tested a fuel efficient and quieter propeller-driven aircraft engine. According the Guardian, the design has the potential to reduce up to 30 percent of an airline's greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption. "We're talking about saving $3 million, or 10,000 tonnes of CO2 per year per aircraft if you introduce an open-rotor on to a 100-200-seat aircraft," said Mark Taylor, the lead Rolls-Royce engineer.
Rolls-Royce's design has put the propellers into the back of the motor, with a double set of propellers each revolving in the opposite direction. The energy efficiency of the engine is increased when the second propeller captures and untwists the air of the first propeller. Noise is reduced by increasing the number of blades on each propeller, as well as by creating slender, more aerodynamic blades.
This combination of engineering brilliance may make aviation history by taking us back to our roots.
Source: BecauseAction.com
