A lean, clean, Green flying machine

"A fast long-range clean-energy aeroplane? This is no longer a pipedream, but an absolutely feasible idea, according to the Technical University of Delft" in The Netherlands, writes Dutch daily Trouw. A model of this revolutionary diamond-shaped craft, fitted out with four wings and four electric engines and with a maximum speed of 450 km/h, was presented at theair show in Le Bourget, near Paris, in the hopes of catching the eye of major manufacturers like Boeing or Airbus. Chief engineer Ronald van Gent affirms that the "Zero Emission Flying Testbed" will make no noise and emit no greenhouse gases whatsoever. An unmanned prototype will be making its maiden flight this year. Notes Trouw, "the aviation sector badly needs a new generation of airliners, given the unpredictable fuel prices and the ever-increasing cost of CO2 emissions."