Airbus could power jets with COW POO
We will shortly be leaving Gaswick ... prepare for whift-off
A PLANE powered by COW DUNG is on the shortlist of a global competition to design the aircraft of the future.
The jet is fuelled by methane generated from farmyard waste stored in refrigerated pods next to the plane’s engines.
Other ideas in the contest sponsored by European plane maker AIRBUS include floating luggage on a bed of air for easy access — and a jet running on passengers’ body heat.
The final two entries on the shortlist of five are a plane made of shape-shifting materials to cut noise and one powered by rechargeable batteries.
Airbus — which has 13,000 UK staff — is offering a £25,500 prize to the Fly Your Ideas contest winner.
The dung entry in the engineering students’ competition was submitted by Team CLiMA from Australia. Cattle waste is already used in the US to fuel farm vehicles. Manure is stored in tanks where powerful methane gas is trapped to generate fuel.
One cow can produce up to 30 gallons of manure a day — potentially generating up to 70 gallons of fuel a year.
A 3,500-mile flight from London to New York uses around 17,500 gallons of fuel — which would take 1,000 cows three months to produce.
Moo-thane maker ... cow
Alamy
The CLiMA team estimates the smelly solution could cut CO2 emissions by up to 97 per cent. Brazil’s Team Levar dreamt up the floating-luggage concept.
Air hockey-style technology would make handlers’ jobs easier in the cargo hold — and passengers could get their bags quicker.
A Malaysian group conceived the idea of using passengers’ body heat to generate power. Seat sensors would capture energy to run onboard electrical systems — cutting energy demands.
An Airbus spokesman said: “Though the idea that cows could provide the fuel to fly you from London to New York — or that noise reduction could be achieved through shape-shifting engines — may seem far-fetched, the existence of these concepts could be not too far away.”
Charles Champion, Airbus’s executive vice president of engineering, said that the industry needed “a constant source of fresh and inventive ideas from the innovators of today and those of tomorrow”.
He added: “These future-focused and disruptive concepts prove that engineering isn’t just about technical skills — it’s about having an innovative mindset and creative approach.”
The winner will be announced in Paris on Friday.
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