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While this is a good development, hydrogen based planes would not be climate neutral. Unfortunately a large and often overlooked part of planes’ climate impact
by nstom 7y ago
While this is a good development, hydrogen based planes would not be climate neutral. Unfortunately a large and often overlooked part of planes’ climate impact stems not from their carbon emissions but from the water vapor they produce [1]. Contrails reflect heat and thereby contribute to global warming. If we want planes to actually be harmless to the climate, we should probably be looking at electric planes.
[1] https://www.transportenvironment.org/news/aviation-2-3-times-more-damaging-climate-industry-claims https://www.transportenvironment.org/news/aviation-2-3-times...
- mrfusion 7y agoShouldn’t they reflect the suns heat away from earth?
- mdorazio 7y agoSeems there's some debate about that and the article didn't actually cite any resources to back it up. According to the end of this National Science Foundation article [1], it depends on the type of cloud. Contrails are maybe analogous to cirrus clouds, which block more thermal energy from the ground than they reflect back into space. [1] https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/clouds/question.jsp https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/clouds/question.jsp
- bootlooped 7y agoWouldn't the reflection of heat work in both directions?