QinetiQ downplays solar flight possibilities

James S Murray
clock • 3 min read

It may have just broken the world record for solar powered flight, but the engineering firm reckons commercially viable manned flight remains "highly unlikely"

Those hoping that the new solar powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that last week undertook a world-beating three and half day continuous flight could prove a forerunner for commercially-viable manned...

To continue reading this article...

Join BusinessGreen

In just a few clicks you can start your free BusinessGreen Lite membership for 12 months, providing you access to:

  • Three complimentary articles per month covering the latest real-time news, analysis, and opinion from Europe’s leading source of information on the Green economy and business
  • Receive important and breaking news stories via our daily news alert
  • Our weekly newsletter with the best of the week’s green business news and analysis

Join now

 

Already a BusinessGreen member?

Login

More on Technology

AI holds risks and opportunities for sustainability professionals - we must use it responsibly

AI holds risks and opportunities for sustainability professionals - we must use it responsibly

How to utilise AI to best effect while curtailing negative impacts is a key challenge that sustainability and environmental professionals need to actively engage with, writes ISEP deputy CEO Martin Baxter

Martin Baxter, Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals
clock 23 September 2026 • 4 min read
'No-brainer': Scotland mandates environmental impact assessments for large data centre projects

'No-brainer': Scotland mandates environmental impact assessments for large data centre projects

Scottish government imposes more stringent environmental requirements on new data centres with a power capacity exceeding 50MW

Stuart Stone
clock 17 September 2026 • 4 min read
Ember: Converging energy, data, and AI revolutions could slash costs across economies

Ember: Converging energy, data, and AI revolutions could slash costs across economies

The transition a to cleaner and more flexible energy systems enabled by digitalisation and AI tools could unlock huge cost savings, new analysis argues

Michael Holder
clock 16 September 2026 • 4 min read