EC120B Helicopter. Photo: Eurocopter
Don’t Forget to Make Them Biodiesel-Compatible!
Most helicopters are powered by turbines. This provides a great power to weight ratio, but it also burns a lot of fuel, which is why Eurocopter is now looking at diesel piston engines as a way to make its choppers more fuel-efficient. We’re talking about significant savings too, on the order of 40%. But before that can happen, even more power needs to be wrung from even smaller diesel engines (as you can imagine, weight reduction is key for an helicopter engine)…. Read the full story on TreeHugger