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Re:The Third Phase of Clean Energy Will Be Most Disruptive Yet by Retric on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @10:57PM (#19568966)
Ops: Electric engines also weigh less than jet engines which allows for a higher mass fraction for batteries.
Re:The Third Phase of Clean Energy Will Be Most Disruptive Yet by jabl on Thursday April 04, 2019 @02:37AM (#19569812)
Really? I thought turbines were really excellent in terms of power to weight?
Re:The Third Phase of Clean Energy Will Be Most Disruptive Yet by Retric on Thursday April 04, 2019 @08:29AM (#19571350)
Currently you can get 10kw/kg turbines and 10kw/kg electric motors so they are close.

However, the turbines require more infrastructure around the turbine. Put another way, simply comparing fuel vs batteries ignores the weight of fuel tanks, fuel pumps, etc. We care about the system not just individual components. That said, the fact that burned fuel reduces aircraft weight is a huge advantage over batteries.