Speaking of electrifying aircraft, this winter Michael Barnard discusses “How much electricity will be required for electric aviation” and, by the way, how much will that cost? [1]
It’s early days, of course. There aren’t any commercial aircraft powered by electricity (as far as I know), but we do have a lot of development pretty far along, so it’s possible to make reasonable projections for what is coming. And the good news is that the electricity required by commercial aircraft is quite feasible. Some airports today already solar farms that generate more than enough.
(However, powering aircraft with solar generated hydrogen will take considerable more electricity than currently available, at least with current hydrogen technology.)
The other good news is that depending on local regulations and taxes, in many places electricity will be cheaper, or even a lot cheaper than the jet fuel it replaces. Electricity will also be easier to source than petroleum products, i.e., electric grids and generation are a lot more generic and ubiquitous that aviation fuel supplies.
So that’s all good news. And if petroleum prices increase, odds are electricity will be even more competitive.
Still, Barnard doesn’t expect all electric aircraft to replace current technology for a long time–the technology simply doesn’t exist yet. He expects large, long range aircraft will probably convert to biofuels before going electric. But smaller, short range electric aircraft probably will enter commercial service relatively soon, replacing internal combustion.
It is important to note that Barnard’s calculations about how much it will cost to top up your electric airplane depend on a lot of policy and other assumptions which could change. The price of aviation fuels is not only subject to global oil prices, but varies in different jurisdictions due to subsidies, taxes, and other overheads. If the price of petroleum fuel increases (by markets or by policies) and the use of solar or other green electricity for fuel is subsidized, electric aircraft could become very attractive indeed.
So, we’ll see what happens.
- Michael Barnard, How Much Electricity Will Electric Airplanes Need, & How Much Will It Cost?, in Clean Technica, December 5, 2022. https://cleantechnica.com/2022/12/05/how-much-electricity-will-electric-airplanes-need-how-much-will-it-cost/
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