Sustainability and air travel don’t often go hand in hand, but the first net zero flight in history will fly from London in 2023. And it looks like a step in the right direction.
Ok, lets wheel it back a bit. The first net zero flight was probably one of the Wright Brothers’ wind powered inventions, but you get what we mean.
The first plane to have a net zero carbon emission will fly from London this year.
Here’s what we know so far…
From LHR to JFK
The government contract to develop such a flight was awarded to Virgin Atlantic, who’ll be flying one of their Boeing 787s from Heathrow across the pond to New York.
How are they doing it?
Chip oil is the answer, pretty much. The jet will run on 70% SAF or sustainable aeronautic fuel which is made, in large part, from waste oils and fats. You’d better scrap aims of a January diet and get down the chippy.
The last 30% will be made up with biochar credits that use a special material to trap and store carbon extracted from the atmosphere resulting in a flight with a perfect net zero carbon emissions.
So far, running this method on the scale of the aeronautics industry just wouldn’t work, but this is just the beginning, and a first step in the right direction. And, while we don’t exactly know when the flight will take off in 2023, all eyes will be on Virgin Atlantic as they attempt the first Transatlantic flight using a more sustainable kind of fuel.
