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These number cause me to seriously rethink the feasibility of battery or fuel cell electric airliners, and lead me to wonder what options remain. Nuclear?
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One option perhaps, is to look at some past designs.
I would suggest Bio-diesel could be a replacement for Jet-A
Some extracts from Dieselair -
The forgotten secret of the superb German diesel flying boats.
-Germany built many flying boats (1930s) for various uses, most of them using the Junkers Jumo 205 diesel 2-stroke opposite pistons, with powers from 600 to 880 HP.
-The most economical plane would be the glider if it could glide for ever, which is why the most economical planes, and therefore the ones with the longest range, are the ones with a high aspect ratio (ratio of wing length to width) giving them a lower induced drag and a most efficient gliding ratio.
Therefore, to obtain a long range, basically you need a high aspect ratio, and an optimal cruise speed of some 1.3 to 1.5 times stalling speed clean. And here comes the problem with gasoline engines: at 1/3rd to 1/4th their nominal power, the specific fuel consumption (fuel consumed per HP-hour) becomes lousy because combustion is no more in optimal conditions.
At same fractional power, the diesel is as efficient as at full power. So maintaining cruise speed may require down to 50% of the fuel flow needed with gasoline engines operating at same fractional power, meaning so much more range.
A cargo diesel motor glider with a very high aspect ratio cruising around 100 kts could very well again be the most effective way to ship goods by air.
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