Construction of Transportation Means - Decreasing Fuel Consumption and Exhaust Gas Emissions in Transportation - page 50

In modern airplanes, the tail segments, the fuselage, the wing and the wing
stabilizers, the skin, the spoilers, the leading and the trailing edge flaps, the engine
inlet, and the aerodynamic cones are made of composite materials (see Fig. 3.6 ).
Interior cabin furnishings and passive interior noise treatment, e.g., wall insu-
lation for cabin noise may be reduced in the future if active noise control tech-
nology is developed. However, passive noise controls, i.e., insulation blankets are
normally not only used for noise reduction, but also for heat insulation. Reducing
insulation would require more power for heating and cooling [ 44 ].
The newest airliners' major structural elements are completely made from
Kevlar and CFC materials. Certification of this technology has been completed
[ 45 ].
The disadvantages of most plastic materials are their higher rigidity and the
lower conductivity. Many plastics are still too ductile to be used as airfoils as they
tend to break under constant load; see Fig. 3.7 .
Military aviation started to use Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRC)
materials approximately 20 years earlier than civil aviation [ 46 ]. Since that time,
glass fiber strengthened composite materials have been increasingly used not only
in civilian airplanes but also in military airplanes and helicopters. Even modern
fighters which are subject to enormous loads in flight, use more plastic compo-
nents. As experience has shown, the loading gate of future military airplanes can
be completely manufactured from CFRC.
3.4 Construction of Ships
The age of industrial shipbuilding began in the middle of the nineteenth century
with steam ships which continued to be built until the first oil crisis in 1973. The
propulsion system contained the coal bunker, the steam engine, and later the oil-
fired boilers and steam turbines. In recent decades, marine engine technology has
been continuously changing [ 47 ]. In the last 10 years, maritime shipping has
rapidly developed, compared to the previous centuries or millennia.
Today, there are more than 43,349 civilian ships over 1,000 GRT. Panama
(6,124), Liberia (2,162), and China (1,822) lead the rankings. Besides cargo and
passenger ships approximately 4 million fishing vessels are also consuming fuel
and emitting exhaust gas pollutants and GHG gases [ 48 ].
In 2009, the international merchant fleet consisted of 40% tankers, 36% bulk
carriers, 14% container ships, and 9% other ships; see Table 3.8 [ 49 ].
The quantity of freight transported by ships is intensively increasing. In 2010,
the shipping industry transported over 10,000 million tons of cargo, equivalent to a
total volume of world trade by sea of over 42,000 billion ton-miles; see Fig. 3.8
[ 50 ].
Total cargo has increased by 8% over the previous years. Today, shipping
contributes between 1 and 5% to the international GDP [ 51 ].