A new deal between defense technology company Anduril Industries and aviation innovator Archer Aviation might yield a more eco-friendly military aircraft. This represents a step in the right direction for an industry that is one of the planet's biggest polluters.
A recent press release announced that Anduril and Archer have partnered to create a hybrid vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft for defense purposes.
"With Archer's ability to rapidly develop advanced VTOL aircraft using existing commercial parts and supply chains and Anduril's deep expertise in artificial intelligence, missionization, and systems integration, the partnership will accelerate speed to market for critical hybrid VTOL capabilities at a fraction of the cost of more traditional alternatives," the press release reads.
Archer also announced it has secured $430 million in additional equity capital for the project from a number of investors including United Airlines and automotive manufacturing company Stellantis.
While the release centered this news around the idea that the partnership would be "advancing capabilities that meet urgent national security needs" there's a bit more to it than that; if the project proves successful, it could help lessen the U.S. military's environmental impact by reducing its carbon output and fuel consumption.
According to the Watson Institute of International & Public Affairs, the Department of Defense is the world's largest institutional consumer of petroleum and producer of greenhouse gases. A switch to electric VTOL aircraft could make a significant reduction in that consumption.
Electric vehicles offer a far more eco-friendly alternative to gas-powered ones, whether for the U.S. military or the average American. They require less maintenance, use less resources, and produce less pollution. That includes exactly zero tailpipe emissions on an electric car. Not only that, but they also reduce noise pollution by being far quieter than gas-powered vehicles.
It's important to point out the frequent use of the word "less" when describing the environmental impact of EVs. Detractors will often point to the resources and energy needs that EVs do have as a way of minimizing their positive attributes. But while it is true that EVs do require resource mining for their batteries, and they do create some pollution, their impact pales in comparison to gas-powered vehicles.
The International Energy Agency estimates that a clean energy transition would require about 30 million tons of minerals to be mined for EV batteries by 2040. We currently dig about 16.5 billion tons of fossil fuels every single year. The difference there is almost too large to comprehend.
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EV batteries do create waste when their materials are mined for, and pollution when their batteries are charged using electricity produced by dirty fuel sources. However, both the waste and pollution created are absolutely dwarfed by what gas-powered vehicles produce.
In other words, it's not that EVs are the perfect alternative, it's just that they are the far better one.
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