Bauhaus Luftfahrt aims for more efficient flight

Jets are big, polluting, noisy, right? Not necessarily! EcoGeek recently covered the European Union’s Clean Skies initiative, which mandats carbon emissions cuts. Now, some firms are embracing these cuts, worldwide calls for reduced emissions, and the reality that it can be profitable to simply design better instead of purchasing expensive carbon credits.

These aerospace firms are looking to reduce carbon in different ingenious and outlandish ways. Reaction Engines got a lot of attention from ecogeeks when it announced a hypersonic, hydrogen fueled super-jet.

Now another enterprising firm, German non-profit Bauhaus Luftfahrt, is making some waves of its own, promising emissions cuts of 35 percent by 2035, with many clever steps.

One basic step it outlines is the adoption of geared turbofan technology in conventional engines, resulting in a 15 percent reduction CO2 emissions. Next it recommends equipping these same engines with counter fans, upping the reduction by an another 5 percent.

Finally by incorporating waste recuperation, another 15 percent efficiency could be squeezed out. And that’s not all -- Bauhaus is also working on an exotic looking box-winged aircraft to further cut into reductions.

The only downside is that the global aircraft fleet is expected to double by 2020, due to increased demand. Still this certainly doesn't detract from the excitement of work such as Bauhaus’ -- it simply shows how much more essential it is.