For decades we've heard about the power of the sun. Now we see it each day in solar-powered houses, commercial buildings, combined with other forms of renewables, whole communities and cities and, as reported below, round-the-world flights.

Beyond this, if you listened to our radio segment with the sustainability director at Boeing, planes are changing, getting lighter, more efficient in every way. The aviation industry has set some of the highest global standards for meeting lofty environmental goals. Using the sun to power at least some of their operations is just the tip of the iceberg.

All of this bodes well for well for the rest of us who are trying, as we drive, fly, live our lives, to reduce our carbon footprint.

What does the future of flight look like?

In the early hours of Monday 9th March 2015, a crowd gathered at Al Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi to witness history in the making. Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) was about to take off on the first leg of its round-the-world flight. It’s the first time anyone has attempted to circumnavigate the Earth in an aircraft powered only by the sun’s rays.

"You fly to the altitude of airliners and at the same time recharge the batteries," says André Borschberg, one of the pilots. "You produce energy when you fly. That’s incredible!"

Could this be the future of aviation—aircraft without greenhouse gas emissions or noise pollution?

Indeed, with planes such as Airbus’ entirely electric single-seater plane, the E-fan, that in July 2015 made its maiden voyage across the English Channel, zero emissions planes are becoming a more feasible reality, if not yet on a commercial scale.

According to Jeff Smith, director of the Ideas Lab at Dassault Systèmes, the number of airplanes that are going to be flying in the next ten years is going to double. India, alone, plans to build 200 new airports in the next twenty years. With this sort of development, the industry has its work cut out – particularly in the face of emissions targets – to make cleaner aircraft.

Currently it’s focusing on a number of areas including cleaner fuels, lighter aircraft (using carbon fibre composite), more efficient engines, and better air traffic management. All of these things taken together will help to keep emissions within the targets set by the industry and the regulators.

Smith says that Dassault Systèmes has the tools to radically reduce the time it takes to design, make, and certify new aircraft. He believes that if their virtual environment can simulate all of the physics of the real world and make the simulations "cinematically real" then the regulatory authorities should be able to make a decision to certify an aircraft or not, with the data presented to them by Dassault Systèmes.

"When we get to the physical world, I may still have to do a little testing, but hopefully I've done more of it in the virtual world, which I can do much quicker without all the cost and labour," says Smith. "To me that is what the future looks like."