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Get Hypersonic - Offset Air Travel With the Hydrogen Burning Airplane

January 31, 2008 - Being a commuter, one of the best things you can do to curb your Carbon Dioxide emissions is to travel less. A no-brainer, right? Understandably, this is impossible for many of us, especially those of us who often travel on business. And when it comes to airline travel, one of the only things you can do to take stock of your Carbon footprint is by offsetting it with renewable energy certificates. That is, unless you get hypersonic.

Introducing the Hydrogen-burning Hypersonic Airplane. Still behind the scenes, financially speaking, the Mach-5 A2 by Reaction Engine is now likely to get some needed funding in order to go forward with prototype testing. Conceptually engineered to attain speeds up to 3,400 mph with 300 passengers, the A2 is designed to produce zero emissions while using a combination of ramjet and turbojet propulsion systems. In other words, we're talking some pretty powerful engines.

The Mach-5 A2 was originally backed by funding from the European Union's Lapcat Project, which was essentially a quest to create an aircraft that could travel from Brussels to Sydney in less than four hours (Apparently, this is a popular flight). Building upon the shortcomings of the famed Concorde A2, engineers have been paying particular attention to the inefficient gas mileage of the Concorde's Mach .9 cruising speed. By adding a turbine compressor to further compress incoming air in the jet's propulsion turbine, the Mach 5 speeds can theoretically be obtained. The only issue will be in developing a cooling system that will adequately lower the temperature of the pressurized, super-heated air so that it can actually run through the turbine.

But that should be a piece of cake. The good news is that hypersonic propulsion experts say there is nothing unsound with the A2's concept. Even better, because the aircraft is powered by Hydrogen, there are absolutely zero emissions - only water and nitrous oxide. And if you're concerned about the A2 turning into another Hindenburg, there's no reason to be. Hydrogen is no more explosive than jet fuel.

The one drawback at this time is that hydrogen production is not carbon-free. More advancement will be needed in this area to get the A2 truly Carbon-free. The technology is certainly being researched. The bottom line is that it can be done. Overall, it's plenty better than the fleet of gas guzzlers currently roaming the skies.

In the meantime, other than catching a ride on a blimp, the best thing we can do as airway commuters is to buy carbon offset certificates, which airlines like Delta are now offering. Delta was the first U.S. airline to offset Carbon emissions by implementing a plan that gives ticket buyers the option of contributing $5.50 for a domestic round-trip flight or $11 for an international flight to The Conservation Fund, which uses the money to plant trees and provide environmental education outreach. If you buy your tickets through agencies like Oribitz or Expedia, you will be given the option to offset your airline travel at the time of checkout. Otherwise, just ask any Delta ticket agent.