commerical airplane that's not oil powered...

[nace186]

I'm very curious to know if such airplane exit. I know Airbus and Boeing's new plane are going to be more fuel efficient, but they are still oil base. For automobiles, there are few alternative being develop, but are there any alternative for commercial airplane?

 

[BoomerD]

no

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Didn't Virgin airlines just test a peanut oil powered jet?

 

[iamwiz82]

The Gimli Glider, though the results were less than ideal.

 

[oddyager]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
Didn't Virgin airlines just test a peanut oil powered jet?

They did it with some concoction made from coconut oil and some other plant oil.

 

[K1052]

The Air Force has contracted for their fuel needs to start being met by a jet fuel produced from coal instead of conventional petrolium in the next decade.

There are other alternative fuels being tested for commercial applications.

 

[Bootprint]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
The Gimli Glider, though the results were less than ideal.

Don't forget Air Transat Flight 236.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

What is going to happen is that renewable energy prices are going to drop. let us simp0ly assume this. We need renewable energy so as long as a profit can be made, R&D spending will increase. Throw enough sh!t against hte wall and some will stick.

The thing is, oil has a great amount of energy density. Nothing really beats it in terms of what can be used for cars and planes.

So, the thing is, cars will probably move away from gas. I think home heating will also have to change in the future. But oil will be used in planes for a long time to come. Some day perhaps we will see better electrical storage techniques, but till then they really are not needed for airplanes.