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MARKET INSIGHTSSustainability and Growth: Tackling Emissions In The Aerospace Industry

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Sustainability and Growth: Tackling Emissions In The Aerospace Industry

The aerospace industry has taken proactive and bold steps to dramatically reduce emissions by 2050. In fact, through the ICAO-led program, CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation), the global industry has committed to reducing the international flight emissions to 50% of the levels experienced in 2005. With 21 years to the self-imposed deadline, the aerospace industry is working on three pillars to attain the goal: emissions reporting, emissions mitigation and emissions offsetting.

The greatest gains in reducing emissions will come from the technology being developed to achieve alternative propulsion, produce biofuels and fly zero fuel aircraft. In November 2019, the global aerospace industry descends on the UAE for the Dubai Airshow where a key focus is on maintaining the expected growth in air travel whilst simultaneously reducing emissions. It is apropos as Dubai is set to be the epicentre of future passenger movements and the largest aviation megacity in the world.

KEY POINTS• Electric and hybrid-electric engines are considered the leading option to zero or low emission flight • Hydrogen engines are under development as a zero-emissions engine alternative• Airlines and aircraft OEMS are working on efficient combustion engines to reduce fuel burn and

emissions by up to 5%• The fully electric aircraft market will be worth USD$45 billion by 2025 and there will be 200 projects

underway by the end of 2019• Airbus’ R&D spend is €3.2 billion and focuses on aircraft design to increase fuel efficiency and

support electrification• Boeing’s ecoDemonstrator 777 aircraft will undertake tests of 50 new technologies to support

sustainability• The global aviation fuel market will be worth USD$450 billion in 2026, 5% of which will be SAF

(Sustainable Aviation Fuel)• Etihad undertook a flight in 2019 fuelled entirely by SAF produced from local desert plants • As an aerospace city of excellence, Dubai and the Dubai Airshow will play a critical role in future

sustainability

Whilst ICAO acknowledges the importance of emissions reporting and offsetting, the real gains in reduction will come from mitigation. Mitigation comes through many avenues: propulsion, aircraft design and fuel.

PROPULSIONA number of manufacturers and airlines are working on alternate propulsion concepts to reduce carbon and nitrogen oxide emissions. Concepts range from full electric to hybrids, and engines which operate on hydrogen. Each option represents risks and benefits on a scale which balances environmental impact and commercial reality.

[email protected] www.dubaiairshow.aero @DubaiAirshow

ELECTRIC ENGINESA recent study from United Technologies Corporation, whose businesses include Collins Aerospace and Pratt and Whitney, indicated the commercial application of electric engines could reduce noise by 85% and reduce operating and maintenance costs by up to 20%. The same report showed a hybrid-electric engine improved fuel consumption by 40% and reduced carbon emissions by more than 20%. As the technology is well established in the automobile industry, it is considered the forerunner for emissions reduction.

There are a number of large and small players working with the technology. On the north west coast of North America, magniX has partnered with regional carrier, HarbourAir, to retrofit electric engines to their De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver aircraft. This is a solution designed for flights less than 1000 nautical miles and to work on improving existing platforms.

The larger players are also entering the electrification fray with solutions for new aircraft and longer flight paths. In late 2019, Norwegian airline, Widerøe, announced a joint research project with Rolls Royce into zero emissions aviation. The airline will need to replace its fleet of Dash8 aircraft to one which is capable of being propelled by an electric Rolls Royce engine. The project has the expressed goal of commercial flights by 2030.

At roughly the same time, Rolls Royce announced the purchase of Siemens’ eAircraft business which focuses on electric and hybrid-electric aerospace propulsion. Citing the pressures on the industry to reduce CO2 emissions, the English engine-manufacturer is seeking the German-born technology to expand beyond eVOTL to larger aircraft with longer flight parameters.

GE Aviation, supplier of nearly 65% of aerospace engines flying globally, announced their hybrid engine in 2015 committing USD$500 million to the project. In 2019, GE Aviation announced a collaboration with XTI Aircraft to power their eVOTL with the hybrid-electric version of their well-established CatalystTM engine. The alliance has generated some confidence as the aircraft has confirmed pre-sale orders.

The great challenge with electric or hybrid-electric aviation engines, is the weight to power ratios of the batteries required. In the quest for zero emission and highly efficient propulsion systems, some are turning to hydrogen due to this issue.

HYDROGEN ENGINESZeroAvia, based in the US, is working on an entirely emissions free aircraft with hydrogen cells in the aircraft’s fixed wings. Across the Atlantic, the European Union has backed UK-based universities and industry players to collaborate and research hydrogen as a fuel source. ENABLEH2 aims to fully investigate all concerns of hydrogen engines as a solution: environment, safety, society, commercial and logistics.



MORE EFFICIENT COMBUSTION ENGINESAside from electrification, Rolls Royce have spent 100 million engine hours on extracting the greatest efficiency from the existing Trent engine for the Advanced and Ultrafan versions. Scheduled for delivery in 2020 and 2025 respectively, these new generation engines promise weight savings, 20% improvement on fuel burn, and increases in pressure and bypass ratios all of which offers their operators decreased fuel bills and greater fuel efficiency. It is the fuel saving as much as the emissions reductions which is attracting the attention of the airlines.

EasyJet is one such airline who has recognised not only the need for reducing emissions through efficient engines yet also the cost savings from reduced fuel burn from these more efficient propulsion systems. Creating a formal relationship with UK-based Derwent Aviation, the two are working towards commercialising the Dual Drive Booster by 2025 to reduce carbon emissions by 5%, halve the nitrogen oxide emissions, and reduce fuel burn by up to 4% on flights up to 1000 nautical miles. The engines would be retrofitted to the airline’s fleet of Airbus aircraft to service routes into Europe. When fuel is 25% of the airlines operating budget, any efforts to reduce the amount required add to the triple bottom line.

AIRCRAFT OEMSAs aircraft design is a significant factor in mitigating the emissions generated by the aerospace industry, the major OEMs are taking a lead role in the emissions reduction targets.

The electric aircraft is considered the forerunner in the zero emissions race and industry reports predict the 2018 USD$30 billion market size will swell to USD$45 billion by 2025. Aerospace consultancy, Roland Berger, echo this report predicting by the end of 2019 there will 200 electric aircraft projects underway in the world.

In the more immediate term, Boeing and Airbus are turning their attention to improving their twinjet aircrafts as reports suggest quad aircraft are 24% less fuel efficient. Airlines are also taking notice as the greatest growth of new aircraft deliveries in the coming two decades are in the narrow bodied, twinjet section of the market as everyone strives for greater efficiencies as passenger numbers continue to climb.

In 2018, Airbus spent €3.2 billion on research and development which was an increase of 15% over the previous year. In line with the EU standards and CORSIA, the company publishes its carbon emissions along side its financial results sending a clear message that the two are intertwined.

Currently, a keynote initiative for Airbus is E Fan X, a hybrid-electric aircraft being developed with Rolls Royce and Siemens. Initially using a British Aerospace RJ100, the group will remove one turbine engine and replace it with a 2MW hybrid-electric version supported by a bank of batteries. Airbus is using the test aircraft to develop the integration of electrification into the aircraft design.

Within another alliance, Airbus is working with Safran and Daher to pioneer a wing mounted hybrid propulsion aircraft. Airbus is managing the aerodynamics of the aircraft; Safran the hybrid and battery systems; and Daher is responsible for the construction and systems integration on their TBM platform. The team is aiming for a 2022 test flight.




At the same time, Airbus is working with Scandinavian Airlines to complete a feasibility study on all aspects required for the full or partial electrification of aircraft. The results are due in 2020 and will focus on the ground support and infrastructure required for airlines and airports to welcome electric aircraft for a fully zero emissions operation.

Working the problem from multiple angles, Airbus has signed on as the foundation partner of the inaugural Air Race E. The aerial race aims to support up and coming designers, engineers and flight operators to develop full electric aircraft not only to compete but also to provide innovation to the entire industry. Along the same strategic lines, Airbus launched a radical aircraft concept aptly entitled “Bird of Prey”. Like the race, it urges designers to think beyond the standard, seeing inspiration from the natural avian aerodynamics to develop the efficient, low emission aircraft.

Boeing spends around USD$3 billion each year on research and development in both in house and external projects. Like Airbus, the US aerospace giant also publicly states its environmental goals making their intentions clearly known. Whilst Boeing is also working towards some radical aircraft designs, it is exerting significant effort in making the 777 series aircraft the most efficient in the skies. Its Performance Improvement Package can be retrofitted to offer significant fuel savings whilst the market awaits the 777x in 2020. Boeing’s aim is for the 777x to be the most fuel efficient aircraft in the world.

777-200/-200ER/-300 BLOCK FUEL VS. RANGEBoeing typical mission rules with 2,000-ft cruise steps, 210-lb passenger allowance, and standard day temperatures.

Part of the development of the 777x has been ecoDemonstrator; a 777 which will be the test aircraft for over 50 new technologies. The ecoDemonstrator program started in 2012 and has tested 112 products so far across a variety of platforms. The focus of the 2019 tests from Frankfurt will be around monitoring and situational awareness technologies enabling pilots to make flight changes and reduce fuel consumption, all of which will inform the 777x aircraft.


There are several smaller OEMs working on their own concepts. Wright Electric is a Californian start up working with easyJet to build a 180-seater aircraft with a 300 nautical mile range; a plane which would service 20% of the airline’s routes.

SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL (SAF)The global aviation fuel market is worth USD$300 billion growing to USD$450 billion by 2026. At that point in time, the International Energy Agency (IEA) anticipates 18 billion litres of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) will be demanded by the market representing 5% of total consumption. By 2040, this should swell to 75 billion litres and 19% marketshare. According to IATA, SAF emits 80% less CO2 emissions than standard aviation fuel and can be produced from any manner of domestic waste making it an efficient and sustainable fuel source.

The first flight using SAF was undertaken in 2008 and since then, the number using the fuel has risen to 100,000 flights a year. In 2019, Etihad Airways undertook a flight from Abu Dhabi to Amsterdam fuelled entirely by locally produced SAF. In the case of the Etihad 787 flight, it was produced from the biomass generated in the cultivation of the desert-bound salicornia. The BioJet Abu Dhabi project is part of the Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium made up by Boeing, Etihad, Khalifa University, Safran, Bauer and GE. The project has now moved to commercialisation phase and scaling up to full production.

At a global level, Air BP is active in the SAF market offering the fuel first at Oslo’s airport then extending to Sweden, France and the US. The company has teamed up with producers, Neste and Fulcrum BioEnergy, to meet demand from airlines such as SAS, Delta and regional Scandinavian Airlines.



More recently, British Airways announced a joint venture partnership with Shell and Velocys to divert half a million tons of domestic and commercial waste from landfill to a specialised refinery to fuel aircraft. It is part of the airline’s commitment to the CORSIA goals and follows similar moves by Virgin Atlantic partnering with LanzaTech, Delta purchasing a bio refinery, United Airlines committing to 10 million gallons of SAF from World Energy, and KLM’s 10-year order with SkyNRG.

The great challenge is the price of SAF, as currently, it can be close to three times the cost of fossil fuels. Yet, as the demand grows, so too will the supply, equalising the price and creating economies of scale.

THE FUTUREMany of the advancements in aerospace sustainability and emissions reductions are being driven by alliances as industry players pool their resources to tackle the great challenge facing the industry; how to become more sustainable whilst managing exponential growth rates. Dubai, as one of the world’s major aviation megacities, will be critical in fostering these partnerships.

Many of the leading innovators in the aerospace sustainability sector will be present at the Dubai Airshow as the global industry comes together at the purpose-built site at DWC, Dubai Airshow Site. The five-day event in November 2019 will connect nearly 87,000 industry professionals and 1,300 exhibitors to drive the global industry forward.

For more information, visit www.dubaiairshow.aero or email [email protected].



BOOK A MEETING Mohamad SabriDirector of [email protected]: +971 (0)4 603 3403

Keith BarthelotRegional Head of Sales, APAC, Middle East and [email protected]: +971 (0)4 603 3300

Sarah Adams Regional Head of Sales, Americas and [email protected]: +44 (0)208 846 2806

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Commercial and Defence Aviation in the Middle East: Trends and Opportunities


17-21 NOVEMBER 2019DWC, DUBAI AIRSHOW SITE

WWW.DUBAIAIRSHOW.AERO | @DUBAIAIRSHOW

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