While writing my upcoming post about carbon footprint from flying I started to dig into alternatives instead of fossil fuel. How far away are we from sustainable aviation? The best source of information regarding clean energy is of course Johan Landgren - so watch Evolution Show if you want to learn more. In these three episodes he’s interviewing Anders Forslund, CEO of Heart Aerospace.
One of their planes are planned to be operating by 2025, capacity for 90 passengers and with a range of 400 km. It’s 100% electric. The plane would be able to operate 200 persons per day. 1/3 of the domestic flights in Sweden are under 400 km and could therefore theoretically be replaced. However, the aim is to be able to create direct flight routes between smaller Swedish cities instead of flights going through Stockholm.
According to Anders, the range could be doubled and that has to do with energy density. He doesn’t believe cross-Atlantic any time soon. However, 85% of departures world wide and 40% of emissions are from short-haul flights, 2000 km. It would in other ways be possible with one stop over to cover most of Europe.
Aviation has an exponential growth curve, 80& of the population has never set a foot on the plane says Anders.
This is very informative, scientific and morally guide conversation. High quality. We need more of these conversation.