Aussie start up pushing switch to electric passenger planes

Motorists are getting used to the idea of electric cars zipping around our roads. But how about using battery power to fight gravity?

MagniX CEO Roei Ganzarski. CREDIT:

That will soon be a reality too if Australian start up magniX has its way.

The company, based on the Gold Coast, hopes to have its electric engines propelling light commercial aircraft within three years, while promising flights that are cheaper to operate, better for the environment and more comfortable for passengers.

“I’ve been shocked at how powerful the interest has been," says chief executive Roei Ganzarski, a former Boeing executive and now magniX's chief executive.

Read the story from The Age by Patrick Hatch - “Aussie start up pushing switch to electric passenger planes.”

The water is coming for Copenhagen; good design could be its best defence

Each day, hundreds of thousands of commuters snake their way across bridges that connect Copenhagen’s many islands. Cyclists, motorists and pedestrians speed over busy canals and race through the thin cobbled streets of the old city, while canal tour boats filled with tourists slowly orbit the centre. On a warm day, the canals are lined with sunbathers jumping from BIG architects’ famous harbour baths, with their distinctive barbershop stripes. Paper Island, in the Christianshavn district, is home to the city’s new pop-up cultural precinct. It is regularly filled with diners, who spill out of the warehouse housing Copenhagen Street Food to watch the sunsets on its banks.

Copenhagen is a city that thrives from its coexistence
with water. By 2100, this relationship will need to be re-negotiated.

Since its beginnings as a Viking fishing village, Copenhagen’s relationship with the Baltic Sea has played a vital role in shaping the city’s culture. Today, canals cordon off its many islands, serving the veins that pump life into its distinct geographical and cultural pockets, such as Christianshavn, even as they divide them. The canals contribute both to Copenhagen’s particular aesthetic and its leading place in global liveability rankings. But the harbour city, whose name has become shorthand for the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference, sees water not only as its biggest asset, but one of its biggest risks.

Read the Foreground story - “The water is coming for Copenhagen; good design could be its best defence.”

Federal government plan to improve fuel quality and vehicle efficiency worthwhile

The federal government's draft plan to improve the quality of fuel and the efficiency of vehicles on Australia's roads may annoy some motorists concerned about the increased cost of driving.

Certainly the motoring lobby would like them to get angry. Its representatives have reacted predictably to the draft proposals. As The Age has reported, the Australian Automobile Association, the peak body for state-based organisations such as the RACV, is already making warning noises about costs.

Read the Editorial in today’s Melbourne Age - “Federal government plan to improve fuel quality and vehicle efficiency worthwhile.”