ENVIRONMENT
ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT
Old Buckenham is already at the forefront of electric flight. In 2022 Alex Rainier made history here and flew a Pipistrel Velis Electro in what was the World's First electric aircraft display at an Airshow. It was powered exclusively by Solar Energy because:
The home of the UK’s first electric aircraft charger is also the place where the NUNCATS project is developing an aircraft designed to connect the developing world, with zero emissions, the charger is completely powered by solar energy. It's not connected to the power grid at all. It's the fourth solar charger for aircraft in the World. Test flights are imminent and the factory will be based at the airfield in a hangar originally built for the USAAF in WWII.
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We’re looking very hard at everything we do to minimise emissions. As part of this we’ve looked at everything from the aircraft to generators; printing to transport. By far this biggest cause of emissions of the Airshow and any event in a remote location is the means of getting here; the car journeys made. We can’t eliminate them altogether but what we can and will do is make a meaningful start on a journey to make the Airshow better than Carbon Neutral; build a forest. We’ve teamed up with Ecologi and will be planting 40,000 trees with them by the time the Airshow takes place, enough to offset the 358 tonnes of CO2 which we could produce. We also know that it’ll take a few years for the trees to be able to absorb that amount and so we’re going to pledge to plant 40,000 trees EVERY Airshow from now on. In a few years we’ll therefore have forests which absorb far more than we emit today AND we’re taking steps in every area of the Airshow. We’re installing cabling in order to use mains power (we only use electricity from zero emission providers) instead of generators in some areas from 2022. We’re changing the way we think about printing, showcasing zero emissions vehicles including aircraft and, in short, making sure we do our bit so that the airborne heroes of the last 80 years can continue to be celebrated responsibly for the next 8 decades.