TMetzinger
Final Approach
Thanks for the info, Tim. I'm glad to hear airlines are not basing their decisions on "wouldn't-it-be-cool" scenarios! And sorry, but I don't know what you mean by "no bleed-air."
Most airliners take compressed air bled from the jet engines (hence "bleed air") and use it to do things like heat and cool and pressurize the cabin, heat the wings for de-ice, and operate other systems. This requires "plumbing" in the airframe (just like the heating/air conditioning ducts in your house) for the air - pneumatics - in addition to the electrical wiring and hydraulic plumbing.
Boeing decided they could do without the pneumatic systems on the 787. Obviously they still pressurize the cabin somehow but they use electrics for the other functions.