When it comes to cutting emissions in the aviation industry, carbon offsets are going to cut it. The only way we can truly clean up the industry is if we switch from fossil fuel-powered planes to electric ones.

On that note, a completely electric plane has made its longest flight ever at just under 15 minutes this week. The plane is a collaboration between a Seattle engineering firm named MagniX and a nearby Vancouver air charter company named Harbour Air. Like an electric car, it runs on a parcel of lithium-ion batteries.

Harbour Air offers services you might describe as an air taxi—it ferries people to places just outside of Vancouver, where many people live on and visit islands, resorts, and more that are accessible by boat or air ferry. The company also flies back and forth to Seattle. These short, frequent trips make Harbour an ideal candidate for an electric fleet. MagniX chief Roei Ganzarski says the plane it tested for this flight could fly up to 100 miles.

Although it will take some years for electric planes to become widespread, it’s amazing to know electric planes already entering the skies.

This story was one of the best from 2019, and we are happy to include it in our “12 Days of Optimism” as we get ready to welcome 2020!