Trials set to test environmentally 'perfect' air travel

The potential to save 30,000kg of fuel across 60 transatlantic flights is to be tested through a trial to see if environmentally 'perfect' flights are possible on a large scale.

The trial, called Topflight, will feature 60 British Airway departures out of Heathrow to various North American airports over a period of four months. Led by NATS, the UK-based air traffic services company, it will examine the environmental impact of everything from aircraft pushback from the stand and taxiing to the use of an optimised flight profile and continuous descent approach.

http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?src=nl&id=23223

High-speed rail could offer carbon savings of over 70%

High-speed rail networks have the potential to deliver massive carbon benefits but only if backed by bold Government policy initiatives and the right development choices, concludes a report commissioned by three UK environmental bodies.

Carbon emissions from making a trip by high-speed rail 2 (HS2), if it was already built, would be 73% lower than making the equivalent journey by car and 76% lower than flying. Those are the headline figures in a report on HS2 carried out for the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), RSPB and the Campaign for Better Transport.

http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?src=nl&id=23234

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