LONDON, Oct. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Chief
Technology Officers (CTOs) of seven of the world's leading
aerospace manufacturers have reaffirmed their commitment to
achieving more sustainable aviation and to reaching industry-wide
Air Transport Action Group targets in a joint statement. This
statement updates a commitment made by a unified group of CTOs in
June 2019 as part of a shared
position to support the aviation sector's ambition to achieve
net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The CTOs of Airbus, Boeing, Dassault Aviation, GE Aviation,
Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, and Safran will also issue a call
to action to policymakers, research institutions, suppliers, fuel
producers and airport operators to build on the progress made in
recent years and deliver on the aviation sector's sustainability
agenda.
The joint statement comes as the CTOs come together to discuss
progress in aviation sustainability at a pre COP26 event and industry showcase held in
London by ADS, the organisation
that represents the aerospace, defence, security and space
industries in the United
Kingdom.
The CTOs of each company have committed to working together to
focus on three core areas of aviation technology:
- Advancing the state-of-the-art in aircraft and engine design
and technology
- Supporting increased availability and adoption of Sustainable
Aviation Fuel (SAF) and investigating hydrogen as a fuel of the
future
- Continuing to develop novel technologies that will eventually
enable net-zero carbon aviation while maintaining the safety and
quality standards of the industry.
The seven CTOs, whose firms have spent over $75B in R&D combined over the past five
years, are calling for:
- A sustained and planned approach from policymakers to support
the development of novel technologies and stimulate the ramp-up of
SAF and green hydrogen production capacity
- A globally consistent approach to regulation and certification
standards
- Collaboration between research institutions and aerospace
suppliers in the development of the new technologies
- Investment in SAF production capacity by fuel
producers
- Investment by airport operators in the infrastructure required
to support novel aviation technologies
Since the 2019 joint commitment, actions taken by the seven
companies towards achieving net-zero carbon emissions have ranged
from improvements to the fleet-in-service today and technologies
for the future:
- Airbus announced its ambition to deliver the
world's first zero-emission aircraft by 2035, unveiling three
hydrogen-powered concept aircraft that highlight the company's
commitment to developing this high-potential technology for
commercial aviation. Airbus is also engaged in 100% SAF
climate-impact projects that are a part of its overall roadmap
towards certification for the entry-into-service of 100% SAF on its
fleet by 2030.
- Boeing committed that their commercial airplanes will be
capable to fly on 100% SAF by 2030, continues to test new
technologies on its ecoDemonstrator program and announced a
partnership with SkyNRG and SkyNRG Americas to scale up SAF. Boeing
and Kitty Hawk also formed Wisk, a
joint venture to advance the future of urban air mobility with more
than 1,500 test flights of its self-flying, all-electric air taxi.
Boeing completed a fifth hydrogen flight test program; this time
with subsidiary Insitu on their ScanEagle3 unmanned aerial vehicle
which was powered by a proton exchange membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel
cell.
- Dassault Aviation actively promotes the use of SAF and
its Falcon range is already SAF-compatible. Within Clean Sky 2 at
the European level and France's
civil aviation research council (Corac), Dassault Aviation's work
focuses on lowering fuel consumption by reducing aircraft drag and
weight. With the European Sesar program, Dassault Aviation works to
improve flight efficiency and fuel consumption through the use of
specially-tailored flight paths. Dassault Aviation is also involved
in Corac projects related to the use of hydrogen in future
aircraft.
- GE Aviation is maturing a megawatt-class integrated
hybrid electric powertrain to demonstrate flight readiness for
single-aisle aircraft with NASA, and is leading industry efforts to
define standards for 100% SAF.
- GE and Safran jointly launched the CFM RISE
(Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines) program in
June 2021 to demonstrate and mature
disruptive technologies including open fan and hybrid electric
targeting more than 20% lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions
compared to today's most efficient engines. Program goals include
ensuring 100% compatibility with SAF and hydrogen.
- Pratt & Whitney announced a major new investment
towards developing a hybrid-electric flight demonstrator, in
partnership with De Havilland Canada, Collins Aerospace, and the
Canadian government, targeting a 30% improvement in fuel efficiency
and CO2 emissions compared to current regional turboprop aircraft.
Pratt & Whitney is also developing technologies for a more
efficient engine core and recently opened a new engineering and
development facility in Carlsbad,
California, dedicated to ceramic matrix composites (CMC) to
support this effort. It is continuing to validate engines operating
with up to 100% SAF.
- Rolls-Royce has joined the UN Race to Zero and has
pledged to prove all its Trent engines – accounting for 40% of the
world's long-haul fleet – are compatible with 100% sustainable
aviation fuel (SAF) by 2023, aligned with the UN Race to Zero
breakthrough on SAF take-up by 2030. It has tied its SAF
compatibility goals to executive remuneration and has tested two
widebody and one business jet engine types on 100% SAF; and signed
an MoU with Shell agreeing to develop and accelerate the use of
SAF. It has developed and flown what it expects to be the world's
fastest all-electric aircraft and signed agreements in the
all-electric and UAM markets with customers to power products due
to fly by the middle of this decade.
- Safran has created a strategic partnership with
TotalEnergies to accelerate the reduction of CO2 emissions of the
aviation industry by jointly working for the development and
deployment of SAF that could completely replace fossil kerosene in
current and future engines. Safran and Airbus will
leverage the skills and test facilities of their JV ArianeGroup to
prepare hydrogen technologies for aviation.
In their joint statement, the CTOs note that flying today uses
80% less fuel per Revenue Passenger Kilometer (RPK) than it did
fifty years ago and that aviation accounts for 2.5% of all man-made
CO2 emissions, while generating 4% of global GDP and supporting 88
million jobs.
As a leading global aerospace company, Boeing (NYSE: BA)
develops, manufactures and services commercial airplanes, defense
products and space systems for customers in more than 150
countries. As a top U.S. exporter, the company leverages the
talents of a global supplier base to advance economic opportunity,
sustainability and community impact. Boeing's diverse team is
committed to innovating for the future and living the company's
core values of safety, quality and integrity. Learn more at
www.boeing.com.
For the full CTO Joint Statement on Sustainable Aviation, please
click here.
Contacts
Airbus
Matthieu Duvelleroy
matthieu.duvelleroy@airbus.com
+33 (0) 6 29 43 15 64
Boeing
Lisa Maull
Lisa.a.maull@boeing.com
+1 314 614 4583
Dassault
Thomas Brotel
presse@dassault-aviation.fr
+33 1 47 11 40 00
GE Aviation
Chelsey
Levingston
Chelsey.levingston@ge.com
+1 513 720 6458
Pratt & Whitney
Mads
Neumann
mads.neumann@prattwhitney.com
+44 (0) 746 875 7744
Rolls Royce
Daisy Omissi
daisy.omissi@rolls-royce.com
+44 (0) 7500 990583
Safran
Catherine
Malek
catherine.malek@safrangroup.com
+33 1 40 60 80 28
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SOURCE Boeing