THE ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT

Manufacturing planes from structural batteries

Jets are critical for moving people and goods around the world. However, they are wildly out of step with global efforts to fight climate change by reducing emissions. Aviation is responsible for about 2.1 percent of global CO2 emissions. The technologies contending to decarbonise airlines are hydrogen, biofuels and batteries. But the cost, complexity and lacklustre performance of battery driven electric propulsion makes this technology a dead end for large-scale aircrafts. Popular Mechanics states that for a growing number of researchers and engineers, the dream of completely electrifying passenger jets is far from dead. Exploring structurally integrated battery technologies might pave the way.