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Here is a article explaining economic goals revolving around tourism in South Africa

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Economic impact of the Tourism Sector: Tourism is a key economic driver and it is on the rise (GL)

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The tourism sector is often overlooked as a key economic sector yet it is a significant contributor and driver of economic growth and job creation. As we commence the 7th administration, our mission is to elevate the profile of tourism by supporting efforts to grow the sector and demonstrating this growth and the sector’s impact on the economy and communities.

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Flying Cars and eVTOLs—Technology Advancements, Powertrain Architectures, and Design

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Flying cars and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft could become the future of personal transportation and taxis, which would significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Presently, over 250 companies are developing flying cars and eVTOLs, and at least a few vehicles are expected to be commercialized soon. This article presents the current trends and technology of VTOL flight mechanisms and identifies the vehicles in each category to evaluate their advantages and limitations. Most of the flying cars that are being developed do not have VTOL capability because of the requirement for high power during takeoff/landing for a roadworthy vehicle. This article proposes the powertrain architectures for incorporating VTOL capability for flying cars based on dual power sources, such as fuel cells and batteries. Besides, possibilities of using a single propulsion system for both drive and flight modes are explored. General design guidelines are presented for the proposed powertrain architecture to estimate the maximum takeoff weight (MTOW), power/energy demands, and source capacities. Furthermore, the technologies of the powertrain components, such as electric motors and power converters, are also discussed in this article.

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How Solar has been used to power a plane

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In the wee hours of July 26, 2016, Solar Impulse 2 landed in Abu Dhabi to eager crowds and cameras. After 14 months of travel and 550 hours in the air, the plane had accomplished what many had deemed impossible: traveling 25,000 miles around the world-over four continents, two oceans and three seas-without a drop of liquid fuel. The sun's vibrant rays supplied the craft's only power.

Now, a new NOVA documentary, The Impossible Flight, airing tonight on PBS, dives into both the challenges and the triumphs of completing this harrowing trip around the world, giving audiences a taste of the passion that drove the Solar Impulse team, and their soaring optimism about the future of energy.

Solar Impulse is the brainchild of Bertrand Piccard, a psychiatrist and explorer who came up with the idea after his 1999 nonstop spin around the world in a hot air balloon. During that venture, he watched his fuel level drop day after day, worrying if he'd have enough, which left him wondering if there was a better way. Eventually, he figured it out: lose the fuel.

Piccard reached out to potential partners in the aviation industry, but was met with resistance. "Everyone said it was impossible," he says. "[They] said I was just dreaming." In order to have enough solar panels to power its propellers, the plane would have to be massive-but at the same time, extremely light.

So Piccard turned to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology where he connected with André Borschberg, an engineer and entrepreneur who trained as a pilot in the Swiss Air Force. Borschberg was consulting for the institute (which he describes as "The MIT of Switzerland") and was intrigued by Piccard's idea. The pair officially announced the project in 2003.

"When you announce officially," says Borschberg, "there is no way back afterwards. And [so] that's what we did for the next 13 years." The duo reached out to investors, engineers, industry partners and more to develop the plane. Every component was tested and optimized, right down to the glue binding the carbon fiber structure.

The result of all of this work, Solar Impulse 2, is certainly a feat of engineering. The plane boasts a wingspan larger than a B-747 jumbo jet, but only weighs around 5,000 pounds, which is comparable to an average family car. A staggering 17,248 photovoltaic solar cells-each one roughly the thickness of a human hair -blankets the delicate wings and fuselage. These cells bask in the sunlight, charging the plane's four lithium batteries to keep its propellers spinning through the dark nighttime hours.

Piccard and Borschberg traded off flying the plane for the 17 legs of the venture. Each slept only in short intervals to tend to the plane's demands. Its wings couldn't tip more than five degrees, otherwise the craft might spin out of control thanks to its low weight and expansive size. This airy construction also meant that even a small spot of foul weather or winds would easily whip the plane off course.

As the documentary details, weather became the team's biggest foe. Because the plane travels on a sinuous path-climbing to nearly 30,000 feet elevation during the day but slowly descending to roughly 5,000 feet at night to save energy-the team has to forecast wind, humidity and temperature at multiple elevations. And the swirling weather system is constantly evolving and changing. Weather conditions delayed their departure from China, later forcing the team to abort their initial Pacific crossing and land in Japan. But then more foul weather began to churn over the Pacific, causing two canceled departures.

Tensions rose as the schedule was continually pushed back-but the crew was also well aware of the consequences of pushing through weather or technical difficulties. "If there is a failure, there is a person in there," one of the team's crew says in the documentary.

Though there were many bumps along the way, the strong convictions of the Solar Impulse team helped them navigate these challenges. "I never lost faith in what we were doing," says Borschberg. "There was something which told me always that there is a solution somewhere. It took more time, it took more effort, definitely...but ultimately we always find a way."

But a plane can't fly on convictions alone. Creativity, and thinking outside of the aviation industry, was also vital to their success, says Piccard. Many aviation experts seemed to have become limited in their thinking, blinded from past experiences of how to build a flying machine. Instead, the duo turned to shipyards, chemical companies and more to seek out potential materials and solutions for their aircraft. The ultra thin carbon fiber that makes up the body of the plane, for instance, was created by the same company producing hulls for the sleek sailing boats the European Alinghi team race in the America's Cup.

"We couldn't develop new solar cells, new batteries, new motors," says Borschberg, noting there just wasn't time to rethink every technology they used. Instead they found the cutting-edge solutions already out there, repurposing them for flight, he says.

"I certainly think it's a pretty impressive technical achievement," Craig Steeves, associate director of the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, told National Geographic's Christina Nunez upon completion of Solar Impulse's voyage. "They're pretty far ahead on a path that the aerospace industry would like to go."

Still, Piccard and Borschberg are quick to add that solar-powered options will not be heading to commercial airlines anytime soon. Solar Impulse 2-and its predecessor, Solar Impulse 1-could only hold one person (the pilot) in its unheated and unpressurized refrigerator-sized cockpit; its single seat doubles as a toilet. The plane is also surprisingly slow, traveling at an average of 30 miles per hour to maximize energy savings.

"It was never an end in itself," Piccard says of the plane. "Solar Impulse was the symbolic way to demonstrate that you can use this technology for big adventure that everybody thought was impossible." In other words, the goal of the flight was not necessarily to push the field of aviation, but to push the imagination.

But by butting up against these limits, the Solar Impulse team did make important contributions to aviation. Many aviation companies-including AirBus, Boeing and Siemens-have recently announced development projects for electric or hybrid systems to reduce emissions of future flights. While some of these efforts began before Solar Impulse took to the skies, the trip drew attention and inspiration to the burgeoning field. "It was very funny to see that the engineers working in the industry were laughing when I initiated the project," Piccard says. "But now the same engineers are working on electric airplane programs."

While solar power remains impractical for these ventures, Piccard explains, the batteries could be charged on the grid before departure. But those technologies still likely require decades of testing and development to reach to commercial scale, according to Peter Wilson, an electronics and systems engineering professor at the University of Bath. One of the primary limitations of these flights is battery storage, he wrote for The Conversation in 2015.

Some of the biggest impacts of Solar Impulse may actually be found on the ground. The flight has pushed cross-discipline advancements in many industries, according to Piccard and Borschberg. The materials development company Covestro, a Solar Impulse partner, is adapting the ultra-low weight, high-performance cockpit insulation for more efficient refrigerators. According to Piccard, a startup company in India is also planning to use the high-efficiency engines of the plane in ceiling fans that consume 75 percent less electricity.

But now that it's said and done, Piccard is ready for his next steps. "Now, of course, we have to continue," he says. "Success is not there to sit in the armchair and enjoy it. Success is there to make the next step."

In November 2017, Piccard and his crew launched the World Alliance for Efficient Solutions, tasked with connecting investors and governments with 1,000 innovative solutions that are profitable and environmentally friendly.

"Very often the protection of the environment on one side and industry on the other side do not manage to find a common language," says Piccard. He hopes that the 1,000 solutions project provides the platform for those conversations to happen.

And though this phase is less dramatic, Piccard hopes that the documentary will help cement the beauty and drama of Solar Impulse in the hearts of its audience and inspire them to keep their minds open as technology advances.

Both pilots' optimism about the future of energy is certainly infectious, and their passion for Solar Impulse is palpable. As Borschberg closes the conversation, he describes his experience soaring above the clouds. "It's absolutely beautiful to be up there, it's a gift," he says. "You look at the wings, you look at the sun above you and you start to understand that just the sun rays falling on the wings are sufficient to make you fly."

"It's really impressive," he adds. "It gives you faith in this type of technology."
The two-hour premiere of The Impossible Flight airs January 31, 2018 at 9 P.M. ET on PBS.

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Inside the First Solar-Powered Flight Around the World

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In the wee hours of July 26, 2016, Solar Impulse 2 landed in Abu Dhabi to eager crowds and cameras. After 14 months of travel and 550 hours in the air, the plane had accomplished what many had deemed impossible: traveling 25,000 miles around the world-over four continents, two oceans and three seas-without a drop of liquid fuel.

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The Future of Flight: A Look Into eVTOL Battery Technology | ACS Publications Chemistry Blog

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A recent study uncovers the capabilities and challenges of lithium-ion batteries for high-power eVTOL vehicles, revealing crucial insights into advancing battery designs for sustainable air travel.

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5 countries that really need more travellers in 2023

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These beautiful places around the world are hoping you visit ASAP.

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L ightweight and high-strength materials have consistently played a key role in the construction of fuel-efficient and high-performing aircraft. Today, bio-composites-made of raw materials of biological origin-are giving engineers new insight on how to improve the environmental performance of future aircraft.

It may be hard to believe, but five decades ago, up to 70% of an aircraft was made of a single material: aluminium. Lightweight, inexpensive and widely available, aluminium was used in the construction of a variety of aircraft components, from the fuselage to other main engine parts. Since then, other cutting-edge materials have improved aircraft design, from metals (titanium, steel, new AI alloys) to composites (carbon and glass fibre, polymeric and epoxy resins).

Today, a new class of highly performant materials-bio-composites-is emerging to offer even more exciting possibilities for improved environmental performance as engineers aim to unlock their potential for use in future aircraft.

Increasingly used in industrial applications due to their numerous advantages, bio-composites are lightweight, flexible, cost-effective, and recyclable.

Bio-composites: lightweight and recyclable

Bio-sourced composite materials are formed-like today's composites-by a matrix (resin) and a fibre, but of biological origin. Increasingly used in industrial applications due to their numerous advantages, they are lightweight, flexible, cost-effective and recyclable.

The raw materials for bio-composites are derived from natural renewable resources: biomass, plants, crops, micro-organisms, animals, minerals and bio-wastes. Chemical and/or mechanical conversion is required to transform these raw materials into bio-composites, which can be used alone or in complement to standard materials, such as carbon and/or glass fibre.

Today, bio-composites can be composed of one or several of the following components:

Natural fibres: These fibres can be obtained from animals, plants or minerals. They do not require a carbonisation process (i.e. the conversion of an organic substance into carbon or a carbon-containing residue).

Biomass carbon fibres: Biomass (i.e. algae, cellulose, lignin) is used to create feedstock and raw materials for further transformation into fibres and resins.

Bio-resins:Resins are highly viscous substances that are converted into polymers (i.e. materials). Bio-resins are made of biological origin, derived mostly from plant oils, biomass or bio-wastes.

In the aerospace industry, bio-composites could be applied in the following areas:

Cabin and cargo:These applications require advanced properties relating to Flammability, Smoke Density and Toxicity (FST) and heat release.

Primary and secondary structures:These applications involve high structural loads and thus require improved mechanical performance and durability.

Auxiliary materials: These applications require functionality for non-flying materials or any means used for the production of composite components in industrial plants.

A look at raw materials in bio-composites

Sugar cane waste, also known as "bagasse," is a dry, pulpy material that remains after extracting juice from sugar cane stalks. Because sugar cane is widely available and a highly efficient converter of solar energy, it is capable of yielding large volumes of biomass.

Sugar cane waste is an excellent source of cellulose fibres, which can be used as "filler" in bio-composites. It can also be used in bio-based Furan resins, which are obtained by chemical conversion or bio-refinery. Furan bio-polymers, in combination with suitable natural or recycled fibres (e.g. recycled carbon fibre), could be used for aircraft interiors.

From microscopic species to large seaweeds, water algae are simple photosynthetic organisms capable of binding CO2 from the atmosphere and transferring it to biomass.

Water algae, like other biomass, could be used as a carbon feedstock to replicate the monomers used to produce today's carbon fibre precursors or resins in standard composites. This approach could thus enable bio-composites to offer the same mechanical properties as existing composites for aircraft applications.

Basalt fibres are made of volcanic rock, mainly found in the lunar maria on Earth's Moon. Non-hazardous with excellent shock and fire resistance, basalt fibres have similar mechanical properties to glass fibres, but with the advantage of a simpler manufacturing process due to their less-complex composition.

Fibres produced directly from lunar rocks could be used for a variety of purposes. This includes stabilising the 3D-printed structure of the lunar station, generating thermal insulation, improving filter systems and providing textiles for astronaut suits.

Lightweight, fast-growing and highly elastic, bamboo is a natural composite material composed of cellulose fibres embedded in a lignin matrix.

Natural bamboo fibres combined with bio-based or standard resins could deliver many benefits. These include reducing environmental impact and improving mechanical performance.

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This new class of materials could transform aircraft design

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Lightweight and high-strength materials have consistently played a key role in the construction of fuel-efficient and high-performing aircraft. Today, bio-composites-made of raw materials of biological origin-are giving engineers new insight on how to improve the environmental performance of future aircraft.