Archive for January 21st, 2013

Credit: Airbus

The “greenness” of a manufactured product is determined by multiple factors, including its material composition and the environmental impacts of the manufacturing process, as well as the lifecycle impacts of the product itself. Aircraft, however, are distinct. A plane is a very large, very expensive object that lasts for decades and, most importantly, consumes a tremendous amount of fuel during that lifetime. This means that, in aircraft manufacture, sustainability efforts inevitably focus on the fuel efficiency of the plane. The drive to reduce emissions, coupled with increasing prices for crude oil, means manufacturers have strong incentives to develop fuel-efficient aircraft. Read the rest of this entry »