Scandinavian Airlines jet tries greener landing
Air travel is a big source of pollution, which is a shame because until the CIA reverse-engineer those Roswell saucers it's really the best way we've got of getting places fast. However, even if we can't eliminate some of the unfriendlier eco-effects of fossil-fueled jets, there are new ways to minimize the impact.
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) recently tried the first European commercial transatlantic green landing approach, designed to reduce fuel burn and CO2 emissions. How did they do it? Well, according to Flight Global they "employed the aircraft's flight management system (FMS) to fly the aircraft at idle thrust from top of descent through to the final stage of the approach" and then "applied four-dimensional trajectory technology, exchanging data with air traffic control which managed traffic flow using precision positioning and time guidance."
Sounds obvious, right? Anyway, the net effect is that it saves about y 150kg (330lb) of fuel and 470kg of carbon dioxide per landing. Some day we'll all land this way.
via Good Clean Tech