The race to create the first solar airplane

The last barrier to greener transportation is up in the air, and if these newly designed planes can get up there, the future of air travel may look decidedly different.

While cars have been going green for decades, airplanes have remained behemoth fuel-gulping modes of transportation. EcoGeek put together a list of ways in which air travel is getting greener ... but there's a long ways to go.

That's bad news for anyone who has to travel for business reasons or can't resist that getaway to an exotic locale. But while nowhere close to being ready for commercial use, there is some green in the distant horizon. A French and a Swiss company are both trying to complete the first viable solar-powered plane.

The Solar Impulse Project, which we've discussed previously is backed by Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard, aims to use only solar energy to keep its aircraft up both day and night.  The Solar Impulse plane hopes to be about 1,500 kilograms of "take-off weight" and is constructed around a skeleton of carbon fiber-honeycomb composite.

French company Lisa Airplanes is putting its efforts into the Hy-Bird project which plans to fly around the world with a 100 percent clean electric airplane powered only by solar energy and hydrogen. For take-off, the Hy-Bird will use solar photovoltaic cells affixed on the wings and on the horizontal tail and for on-board power supply. A fuel cell will then power the aircraft for cruise flight and an electric engine will propel the plane.

Booking a seat on-board won't happen any time soon. Both Hy-Bird and the Solar Impulse Project hope to take trial flights next year, but only one person will be on each of these planes. Meanwhile, unmanned solar airplanes are already in the air, with one that will be able to fly almost indefinitely is planned for the near future.

Via Inhabitat