Gradually going green

The number of commercial airplanes globally is expected to double by 2030, but will there be enough fuel to keep them flying?

A lengthy technical effort has been expended over the last decade or so to identify air transport designs that might be “game changers,” just as the jet engine transformed everything half a century ago. But that ambition hasn't materialized; things have simply evolved.

As the demand for new aircraft has continued to soar, airline customers have rejected radical options and stuck with conventional product lines comprising traditional winged tubes, albeit powered by engines that are 70% more efficient than the early civil jets.