They may reduce the carbon footprint per mile, but the physics of thermal engines imposes hard bound to what can be achieved. The article mentions the delta wi

They may reduce the carbon footprint per mile, but the physics of thermal engines imposes hard bound to what can be achieved. The article mentions the delta wing design may save 20% on fuel consumption. However those gains are completely swallowed by the traffic increase which is about +30% every 10 years if I remember correctly. The target for 2050 is completely unrealistic, considering the traffic increase and the long cycles of the aviation industry. It may be achieved with hydrogen, assuming it can be produced in large enough quantities with renewables. "should we therefor not even attempt it?" Oh they certainly want to look as if they were trying to reach there objectives ... for the moment it is business as usual. The production of conventional, kerosene powered planes has never been so high and still increasing.