Bio-fuel and Solar Energy based cheap flights: The Future of Aviation

Aviation is undergoing fundamental transformation in the wake of increasing concerns for environment and developing feasible commercial alternatives. The recent, trans-continental flight of a solar powered plane and some experimental flights using bio-fuel as an alternative indicate that the future of aviation will be powered by alternative fuels which are eco-friendly and sustainable. For the consumers this would usher in an age of cheapest air tickets where the proportion of fuel cost is reduced to insignificant levels.

The maiden flight of solar powered plane might still be far off from commercial use but it has been demonstrated that airplanes can be flown day and night on solar power.  The solar airplane made use of about 12000 solar cells on its dragonfly-like wings to power the flight which operated day and night. This means that the price element of fuel will be replaced with that of the depreciation of the capital investment done on the solar cells and their maintenance. However, this experimental flight is not being considered as a precursor to cheap flights of future on a commercial scale since the present flight was on a single seat plane and the aircraft weight was about that of a family car. Commercial planes are of altogether different dimensions in size. But, it did amply demonstrate that day and night flights are possible on solar power.

Bio-fuels, on the other hand, are the only feasible and sustainable alternatives at present which can be used for commercial purpose. There have been many experimental flights using this fuel type. However, these would require large tracts of lands for growing the plants which provide bio-fuel. With EU bringing aviation sector within the emissions trading program, there is a likelihood of making a shift towards using bio-fuels. Though marked reduction in the prices of flight tickets might still not be possible due to less usage of these fuels initially, the costs of tickets are expected to go down after attaining optimal levels of usage.