The World in 2030

The World in 2030 135
Carbon offsetting schemes are being used as a
smokescreen to avoid real measures to tackle climate
change. We urgently need to cut our emissions, but
offsetting schemes encourage individuals, businesses
and governments to avoid action and carry on polluting.
There is still time to act, but we cannot afford
to be distracted by measures that at best only have a
small role to play in providing the solutions to global
warming. 271
So, if biofuels are years away and carbon offsetting schemes
offer no solution what else must we do about aviation?
Completely redesigning aircraft is one possible answer. In
August 2007 Gizmag.com reported:
The standard aircraft design with which we have all
become so familiar throughout the 20th century is
headed for the scrap heap. Despite its ubiquitous
nature, the traditional shape is set to be superseded
in the push towards cleaner, greener aircraft that can
transport people around the globe using less and less
fuel.
Now a new research group at a Netherlands university
has been formed with the explicit goal of consigning
the current shape of passenger airliners to the history
books. The CleanEra project will investigate BWB
(blended-wing-body), high-tech propeller engines
and even UFO-style body shapes in their efforts to
produce a light, efficient airliner model that produces
less noise and cuts carbon dioxide emissions by at
least 50% over current designs. 272