After we bragged to you about our flashy new solar boat a while back, we realized that what was the cutting edge of sustainable transportation some months back had swiftly become its dull butter knife. In that spirit, we’re plotting our next green machine purchase: a fuel-efficient aircraft. At first we were thinking about a modern airship (like the Aeroscraft seen at right), then we contemplated a light-weight fuel-cell plane, but as we scrolled through TreeHugger’s listicle of 7 Cool Innovations in Fuel Efficient Aviation we finally found the vehicle we’ll be flying off the lot. See our new plane after the jump.

Meet the Air Force Top 10: Ground Effect Aircraft

By flying low to the ground, these aircraft use up to 40% less fuel because they don’t waste energy ascending and descending and contend with less wind resistance. This is just the starter model though. We’re guessing that once these catch on our second ground effect vehicle will look more like this: