Pipistrel nears launch of new hydrogen-powered 19-seater

Pipistrel nears launch of new hydrogen-powered 19-seater

by | Feb 28, 2021

Slovenia’s Pipistrel Aircraft, best known for its range of lightweight two-seaters, is nearing the launch of a new hydrogen fuel-cell- and battery-powered 19-seat hybrid that it hopes will revolutionise the commuter-category segment.

Dubbed the “Miniliner”, the aircraft could enter service by 2030, the company says, and will offer a substantial cut in operating costs against current designs.

Pipstrel says the Miniliner will be able to perform short point-to-point services between cities, boosting connectivity for underserved locations, or what it calls “microfeeder” flights into bigger hubs.

Power from the fuel cells will be sufficient for most departures, but batteries are provided to boost short-field performance, allowing departures from runways down to 800m (2,620ft). This, it says, will allow access to 80% of Europe’s airports.

While Pipistrel sees the optimum flight length as between 160-215nm (300-400km), the Miniliner will be able to fly for around 1,000nm on a single tank of liquid hydrogen.

Read the whole article in FlightGlobal.

Auroville – World’s First Moneyless City

Auroville – World’s First Moneyless City

by | May 26, 2020

Auroville – also known as the “City of the Dawn” – is an international city in South India founded in 1968. Currently, it has 2,800 citizens from 54 countries, with the capacity to grow to 50,000 citizens.

Auroville is a “collective experiment in human unity” based on the worldview of Indian yogi Sri Aurobindo. The idea is if people from all cultures and castes can learn love each other in Auroville, maybe the rest of the world can follow suit.

The township was created with support from the Indian government, UNESCO and well-wishers around the world, but is becoming more and more self-sufficient over time.

In Auroville there is no individual ownerhip of land, housing or businesses. Everyone is given a basic living “maintenance,” whether they work for one of the commercial units, doing community service or are unable to work.

When they go to the store, they take what they need, tell the clerk their account number and it’s deducted from the Central Fund.

It’s an economy designed to serve humanity, rather than the other way around, Aurovillians say.

“We give our work, and we are given what we need,” says citizen Jean-Yves Lung in the documentary below. “It’s very simple. If you give your work, and you are happy to give it, you don’t need money to evaluate the quality of your giving. We can still be productive, creative, innovative, and what happens is people discover that they feel better. We take what we need and that’s it.”

Read the whole article by Sara Burrows in Return to Now.

 

 

Zero Village Bergen – zero emission neighborhood project

Zero Village Bergen – zero emission neighborhood project

by | Aug 22, 2016

This project is the largest of its kind in Norway. The development consists of about 700 new dwellings, a kindergarten, and some commercial buildings, and is located at Ådland, near the Bergen airport.

The project design has focused on several interrelated topics such as minimizing energy use, effective production of local, systems, design for solar access and noise minimization, and exchange of energy between the buildings, with the local energy central, with the grid, and with transportation (electromobility).

The knowledge gained from the planning process has contributed to the general understanding of zero emission neighborhoods as something very different and much more complex than a single zero emission house.

The planning of Zero Village Bergen has also led to several scientific reports and press coverage about zero emissions and inspired several public funded research initiatives with local partners in Bergen such as BKK (Bergen Utility Company), Christian Michelsen Research, The Norwegian State Housing Bank, Bergen University College, UNI Research in Bergen, etc. The realization of Zero Village Bergen will be very important in the work towards a zero emission society.

This information comes from the website of ZEB Center.

Zero Village Bergen website.

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