Page 11 - World Airnews September 2020 Edition

CLIMATE CLIMATE
CHANGE CHANGE
THE AGE OF ELECTRIC with an eventual demand for 550 hybrid
airliners each year between 2028 and 2040.
But the prospects for electric long-haul

flights are not so rosy.
FLIGHT IS FINALLY UPON US While electrical motors, generators, pow-

er distribution and controls have advanced

very rapidly, battery technology hasn't.
By Tim Bowler Airbus' Grazia Vittadini said today's

planes are 75%-80% more fuel-efficient

than 50 years ago.

Even assuming huge advances in battery

erospace firms are joining forces technology, with batteries that are 30 times

Ato tackle their industry's growing more efficient and "energy-dense" than

contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, they are today, it would only be possible to

with electric engines seen as one solution. fly an A320 airliner for a fifth of its range MagniX plans to flight test its 350HP and 750HP motors on

But will this be enough to offset the grow- with just half of its payload. commercial aircraft such as a Cessna Caravan. On the seafront,

ing demand for air travel? "Unless there is some radical, yet-to-be Harbour Air is planning to turn its fleet of sea planes electric

Recently the world's first commercial all-elec- invented paradigm shift in energy storage,
tric passenger aircraft - albeit in prototype form we are going to rely on hydrocarbon fuels for and eight billion expected to be sold by 2037. This obviously isn't an appealing prospect

was launched by Israeli firm Eviation. the foreseeable future," said Paul Eremenko, Meanwhile regulators are also piling on for the industry. Rolls-Royce's Paul Stein

The company says the craft - called Alice United Technologies chief technology officer. the pressure. said starkly that the world would be in a
– can carry nine passengers for up to 650 The big problem with this is that 80% In Europe, the European Aviation Safety "dark place" if we stopped travelling.

miles (1,040km) at 10,000ft (3,000m) at of the aviation industry's emissions come Agency has said it will start categorizing He argued that in a global economy

276mph (440km/h). It is expected to enter from passenger flights longer than 1,500km aircraft based on their CO² emissions, while "where peaceful co-existence comes about

service in 2022. - a distance no electric airliner could yet fly. Norway and Sweden are aiming to make short- from travelling and understanding each

Alice is an unconventional-looking craft: Yet the UK has become the first G7 country haul flights in their airspace electric by 2040. other, if we move away from that I am very

powered by three rear-facing pusher-pro- to accept the goal of net zero carbon emissions So logically, is the only answer is to ditch concerned it's not the direction mankind
pellers, one in the tail and two counter-ro- by 2050 - a huge challenge for the air travel long-haul flights? should be going in". Q

tating props at the wingtips to counter business with 4.3 billion tickets sold this year Article courtesy https://www.bbc.com

the effects of drag. It also has a flat lower Airbus's chief technology officer Grazia Vittadini shows off the

fuselage to aid lift. E-Fan X - the next step in Airbus’ electrification journey. The

"This plane looks like this not because we project is being worked on by Rolls Royce and Siemens AVIATION INDUSTRY TO
wanted to build a cool plane, but because

it is electric," said Eviation's chief executive

Omer Bar-Yohay. involved here, the engineering is absolutely power an electric motor for a hybrid craft.

"You build a craft around your propulsion leading-edge - and our investment in elec- And low-cost airline EasyJet is working REDUCE EMISSIONS

system. Electric means we can have light- trification is ramping up rapidly," said Rolls- with Wright Electric, saying it will start

weight motors; it allows us to open up the Royce's chief technology officer Paul Stein. using electric aircraft in its regular services
design space." United Technologies, which includes by 2027. This is likely to be on short-haul By Sonia Wolf
flights, such as London to Amsterdam -

Eviation has already received its first engine-maker Pratt & Whitney in its portfolio,

orders. US regional airline Cape Air, which is working on its Project 804, a hybrid electric Europe's second busiest route.

operates a fleet of 90 aircraft, has agreed to demonstrator designed to test a 1MW motor "Electric flying is becoming a reality and 2009 to 2020 and stabilising its CO² emissions engines will be rolled out commercially for

buy a "double-digit" number of the aircraft. and the sub-systems and components required. we can now foresee a future that is not in preparation for a 50 percent reduction by another two decades.

The firm is using Siemens and magniX to The firm says it should provide fuel exclusively dependent on jet fuel," said nder pressure from frequent fly- 2050 compared to 2005. "Batteries today are still too big and heavy
EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren.

provide the electric motors. savings of at least 30%. It should fly in 2022 Uers alarmed over climate change, It is a major challenge given that the number to be used as the main source of power for
It's a statement underscored by a report

MagniX chief executive Roei Ganzarski and is forecast to be ready for regional from investment bank UBS which predicts the airline industry said it is "hell-bent" of passengers is expected to double over the aircraft," said Leithen Francis, managing

airliners by the mid-2020s.

said with two billion air tickets sold each the aviation sector will quickly switch to hy- on reducing emissions- but the technology next two decades to reach 8.2 billion in 2037. director of Singapore-based aviation public

year for flights of fewer than 500 miles, the Zunum Aero, backed by Boeing, is using brid and electric aircraft for regional travel, needed to drastically reduce its carbon Meanwhile an analyst with Malay- relations agency Francis & Low.

business potential for small electric passen- an engine turbine from France's Safran to footprint is still out of reach. sia-based Endau Analytics, Shukor Yusof, "Aircraft today take off heavy - because

ger aircraft is clear. "The sector is under considerable pres- said the industry had made progress but the aircraft is carrying a full load of fuel -

Crucially, electricity is much cheaper than sure," admitted Alexandre de Juniac, chief "that all these technological advances to cut but then the aircraft uses up its fuel during

conventional fuel. executive of the International Air Transport emissions are tough to implement quickly the flight and lands light.

A small aircraft, like a turbo-prop Cessna Car- Association (IATA). due to the nature of the industry hemmed Switching from conventional jet engines

avan, will use (US) $400 on conventional fuel The industry has been under fire over its by high costs and the fact that planes typi- to electric or bio fuel is currently impracti-

for a 100-mile flight, said Ganzarski. But with carbon emissions, which at 285 grams of CO² cally take decades before they are replaced". cal for the aviation industry

electricity "it'll be between (US) $8-$12, which emitted per kilometre travelled by a passen- Philippe Plouvier, associate director of "Aircraft powered by batteries will take

means much lower costs per flight-hour". ger far exceed all other modes of transport. consulting firm Boston Consulting Group off heavy and then have to land heavy,

"We're not an environmentalist company, De Juniac said the industry was "hell-bent" in Paris, said "the constant renewal of the so developing aircraft that can do that-

the reason we're doing this is because it on lowering emissions but the sector is also fleet is a major part of it (cutting emissions)", without having a hard landings or causing

makes business sense." accused of underestimating its environmen- explaining that the latest models of large structural damage to the airframe - will be

Several demonstration projects are now tal impact, with the IATA chief lobbying heavi- aircraft reduce CO² by 20 to 25 percent. a challenge," Francis said.

nearing fruition. ly against a "green tax" on aviation backed by "But that only solves around 30 percent of The ICAO says better management of air

For example, Rolls-Royce, Airbus and several countries including the Netherlands. the problem," he said. The rest, he added, traffic can help and a new generation of

can only be resolved by developing sustain-
more fuel-efficient plane designs is predict-

Siemens are working on the E-Fan X pro- "Often these taxes are absorbed in the bud- able bio fuels or turning to electric power. ed within five or ten years.

gramme, which will have a two megawatt gets of states and are spent on whatever they

(2MW) electric motor mounted on a BAE want, except the environment," he said. Several airlines have begun testing bio With additional reporting by Martin

146 jet. It is set to fly in 2021. The world's first commercial all-electric passenger aircraft - albeit The industry has committed to improving fuels but production costs remain high and Abbugao in Singapore. Q

industry experts do not believe electric

"There are huge amounts of energy in prototype form was launched by Israeli firm Eviation fuel efficiency by 1.5 percent per year from Article courtesy: https://phys.org/news/
World Airnews | September 2019 World Airnews | September 2019
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