Surely it would save some carbon emissions if the plane was clad in solar panels and could use solar energy once airborne/above the clouds?
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While it is theoretically possible for planes to use solar power for their energy needs, there are several practical challenges that make this difficult in practice.
First and foremost, the amount of energy that can be generated by solar panels is very small compared to the amount of energy that is required to power a plane. To generate any useful amounts of energy, the planes would need to have a very large surface area covered with solar panels, which would make them heavy and difficult to maneuver.
Additionally, the amount of energy generated by solar panels can vary depending on factors such as weather and time of day, which could make it difficult to ensure a consistent and reliable source of power for the plane.
Finally, solar panels are not very efficient at converting sunlight into usable energy, so even a plane with a large surface area covered in solar panels would not be able to generate enough power to sustain flight under most circumstances.
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