NASA launches green flight initiative

Posted by anthonykuo , Aug, 2009 @ 10:55 am

Flying is either incredibly fuel efficient or environmentally destructive, depending on who you ask. If you’re going from New York to Baltimore on a plane for example, shame on you – take the damn bus. From New York to LA? The enormous amount of high-octane aviation fuel required to haul you over there, spread over the other passengers, is more efficient than taking your car and driving for a whole week.

The next frontier in green transportation is bound to be flight travel, which is why it is not surprising to see that NASA just announced the Green Flight Challenge. The competition will be awarding a prize of $1.5 million to the first plane to achieve 100 miles per hour, for 200 miles. That may not sound that impressive until you realize that the plane must achieve an efficiency of 200 passenger miles per gallon – not an easy feat! [Inhabitat]

Tags: flight, fuel efficiency, green, NASA, solar power