Green aviation

Article By:

Agarwal, Ramesh K. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.

Last reviewed:2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB140406

Green aviation is the technology that addresses environmental issues in the design and operation of aircraft, particularly the problems of aircraft emissions of gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NO_x), and of noise abatement. In the next few decades, air travel is forecast to experience the fastest relative growth of any mode of transportation (automobiles, buses, rail, ships, airplanes, and so forth) because of the manyfold increase in demand in the major developing nations of Asia and Africa. Air travel accounted for less than 3% of the world passenger traffic of 5.5 × 10¹² passenger kilometers traveled (PKT) by all modes of transportation in 1960, increased to 9% of the PKT of 23.4 × 10¹² in 1990, and is expected to be 25% of the estimated PKT of 53 × 10¹² in 2020 and nearly 40% of the estimated PKT of 103 × 10¹² in 2050. (1 km = 0.62 mi.) These projections are based on 3% annual growth in world gross domestic product (GDP), 5.2% annual growth in passenger traffic, and 6.2% annual increase in cargo movement.

The content above is only an excerpt.