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  • Alternate source of energy to power planes

It may be a stupid question, but when there is no more oil on this planet (which in the age span of the earth is tomorrow), what will power airplanes engines ? Any research done on alternate energy for that purpose or other kind of engines ?

Jacquest

Amazing article Zane! Thanks for posting.

First time I had heard of this.

9 months later

Take a look at the 2008 Fishman Electra Flyer-C, N123EL with explanatory captions on this site. It was shown featured at EAA AirVenture 2008 and flew a demonstration of a practical, working electrical powered motor glider carrying one full-size human pilot. Not a toy.

a year later

some will charge the batteries using wind power.

http://highaltitudewindpower.com

Others are aiming do more soaring; and with extra lift let props act as turbine to recharge batteries. Consider exploring what Taras Kiceniuk, Jr. is doing with regenerative soaring.

And in tethered aviation, there are schemes to have networks of cables kept aloft by lifting-shaped aerostats. Then sail vehicles along the lofted cables.

I think hydrogen should be the new fuel.

Example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_Engines_A2

Hydrogen? Shades of the Hindenburg dirigible disaster! Which loss of all life aboard probably occurred before your time (1937), but not before mine. Hydrogen in usable, compressed form requires a heavy, strong, rigid container and is too volatile to be practical for transportation fuel for the masses, by air or by land. Blimps (different technology) since the Hindenburg disaster use Helium for lift, which is a non-inflammable gas, albeit with somewhat less lifting power.

After the Hindenburg disaster, the hydrogen-filled Graf Zeppelin dirigible was retired from service and a new ship under construction was abandoned. Never again was the dirigible used as a passenger aircraft. Aviation learned from Germany's mistake.

As to the World running out of fossil fuels, don't believe it! The North American continent alone has of late been found to have more fossil fuel reserves-oil-than necessary for all needs in the forseeable future due to new discoveries. Fossil fuels are continually regenerating themselves underground and under-sea. Our problem in America is an elected Congress that won't let us drill for it. Oil shale recovery is also now becoming economical to recover with developed technologies. Sarah Palin was and is right! And so are American, Canadian and Mexican oil exploration companies, to name a few that are actively finding new, proven reserves. I've got producing oil platforms visible from my California beach, and we need more offshore (and onshore) exploitation and production with safe technology.

a month later

Thanks for the link, IFLYSKY5, and the pics.

To the topic, I tend to oppose throwing out the baby with the bath water. There is no doubt that 100LL is pretty much universally disliked because it contains lead. I don't care for petroleum-based fuels for two main reasons: they are relatively dirty, and they are randomly found. I liken it to cavemen dragging a limb through a stinking bog and setting it on fire. I think it's time we moved beyond the hunter-gatherer stage.

When I made the first pure biofuel flight across the US, I burned straight N-butanol. It is more viscous than gasoline, has excellent lubricity, burns similarly, can fuel existing turbines, diesels, and gasoline engines, and unlike ethanol, is not corrosive to natural materials (rubber, paper) or aluminum. It actually does a really good job of protecting the old aviation engines without lead. On the downside, it is a little cold-blooded and needed a gasoline priming system to start in November. Of course, it can be engineered with an accelerant to overcome that.

The thing I really like about an alcohol molecule is that it can be engineered in a number of ways, and not just by using yeast or bacteria. You need a suitable and sufficient hydrocarbon feedstock. That's where my infrastructure development advance comes in; you can produce enormous amounts of algae in desert climates relatively close to the ocean from hyper-saline water, which is the byproduct of desalination. Unlimited fresh water, industrial and table salt, and an entirely new feedstock for our petrochemical industry that can be manufactured into ALL related products, plus fuel farming, without the need for refineries and with a positive impact on existing food sources. The fuel works in existing engines and can be transported in existing pipelines, unlike ethanol. Also, you are locking even more CO2 than you are releasing while eliminating the release of CO2 from ancient sequestered sources.

Best of all, we identified a permanent and renewable replacement for petroleum, so we eliminate the geo-political ramifications of our current hunter-gatherer fuel economy.

See LookLocal.org. Now that I'm back on my feet, the site will soon see a resurgence.