Turboprop aircraft

[tivoli]

I often travel to west of Ireland SailRail via Holyhead or Fishguard, can be a long jouney, which I don't usually mind. However, may soon have to go over and back quicker than normal, but would never use Ryanair. Looking at Aer Arrann who use turboprop aircraft. Their website claims that these aircraft are "greener" than regular jets, which I can understand, but does anyone know where I can obtain more objective information?

 

[jamesontheroad]

I often travel to west of Ireland SailRail via Holyhead or Fishguard, can be a long jouney, which I don't usually mind. However, may soon have to go over and back quicker than normal, but would never use Ryanair. Looking at Aer Arrann who use turboprop aircraft. Their website claims that these aircraft are "greener" than regular jets, which I can understand, but does anyone know where I can obtain more objective information?

It's very difficult to substantiate or challenge that claim, because it ultimately depends on dozens of factors: route length, number of passengers, weight of cargo, distance fuel is carried (many airlines fill their planes up in the cheapest country or airport and then haul unnecessarily full tanks regardless of whether or not it is the most efficient).

Aer Arran fly French ATR props, so you could do worse than to check their website. FlyBe offer a token Eco label (like the one you get on electrical appliances) on all their planes and when you're booking, but again that doesn't take into consideration the variable factors described above. As an overall airline, Ryanair is arguably one of the leanest... don't forget that Jet A1 (aviation fuel) ain't cheap, and their holistic approach to cost cutting includes operating the youngest fleet of Boeing 737 in the world, all of which are the newest generation with blended wingtips (proven to decrease fuel consumption by >5%).

I regularly travel between Glasgow and Belfast and remain convinced that 30 minutes on a FlyBe Q400 or 25 minutes on a Ryanair 737-800 is less polluting per passenger carried than the rail/sail equivalent: 2 Hours on a Scotrail 156 and 2 hours on the beastly Stena HSS.

Discuss...

 

[Metroland]

Turbo props are a bit greener than jets, but it depends on load factor: Defra reports 175.3 g/co2 pass km for domestic flights in general, national rail is around 60 g/pass km with intercity trains around 30g. Passenger ships are not very fuel efficient, I don't have the figures to hand.

Aircraft also need to have radiative forcing and cloud effects added to the equation

UK domestic flights (30 million passengers per year) have slightly more emissions than the the whole of national rail (1.2 billions passenger per year and freight).

The moral of the tale is distance also has to be factored in.

For all these issues I recommend 'Sustainable energy without the hot air', written by a Cambridge university Physics professor.

http://www.withouthotair.com/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sustainable...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270583457&sr=8-1

 

[ivanhoe]

I often travel to west of Ireland SailRail via Holyhead or Fishguard, can be a long jouney, which I don't usually mind. However, may soon have to go over and back quicker than normal, but would never use Ryanair. Looking at Aer Arrann who use turboprop aircraft. Their website claims that these aircraft are "greener" than regular jets, which I can understand, but does anyone know where I can obtain more objective information?

Any reason why you won't use Ryanair other than a dislike for their CEO? They are just as safe and green as any other airline.