A NEW ERA OF PLANES: HYBRID PLANES

The 21 st Century may well mark the beginning of the hybrid age. New and exciting developments in transportation propulsion systems promise to deliver higher performance, be more efficient and unshackle human energy consumption from the burning of fossil fuels. Once the

realization that oil won't last for ever is accepted, all sorts of intriguing possibilities suggest themselves: hybrid jet planes with electric motors helping to drive their high bypass turbofans; diesel electric locomotives that no longer simply throw away the energy captured by dynamic breaking; and a new crop of super cars from Lotus, Ferrari and Porsche that don't take a back seat to any gas guzzler. The future looks green, efficient and even fun.
Electric motors are highly efficient, robust and do not lose power at higher altitudes. They are also quiet and emission free. Perhaps most important for aviation, electric motors are relatively light weight. A 200-horsepower electric motor weighs only one-third that of an equivalent horsepower internal combustion engine. All these features are attractive to airplane manufacturers and airlines, who's second largest operating cost is fuel. Unfortunately their is a problem with electric motors, they need electricity and for that, you need a battery.
The heavy weight of batteries is even more of a problem in airplanes than in automobiles. But battery technology has been advancing by leaps and bounds, driven primarily by the auto industry. According to Boeing, hybrid propulsion similar to the engine-battery pairings increasingly seen in passenger cars could be aviation's answer to the fuel burn and emissions dilemma. The research and technology people at Boeing reckon their concept for a 737-sized aircraft could be reality by 2035, given continued advances in battery technology.
The proposed aircraft, known as Sugar (Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research) Volt, was one of five designs submitted by Boeing in response to a research challenge set by NASA. The goal set by NASA was to design a 2030-era aircraft that burns 70% less fuel and emits 75% less nitrogen oxide than today's airliners. According to the design study, the Sugar Volt concept (which adds an electric battery gas turbine hybrid propulsion system) can reduce fuel burn by greater than 70 percent and total energy use by 55 percent when battery energy is included.