Page 72 - World Airnews Magazine December 2019 Edition

NEWS DIGITAL NEWS DIGITAL

the extremely safety-conscious nature of multiple small electric propulsors in a so- and that airlines will invest (US) $1.3trn in
the aviation industry, it is unlikely to plan called distributed propulsion system that is new planes over the next decade.
future aircraft on unproven technology. more efficient than traditional designs that For example, Rolls-Royce’s most recent
What we are more likely to see for use two large turbofans. engine, the Trent XWB that powers the new
short-haul flights in the next 20 to 30 years This idea can be taken further by Airbus A350, is marketed as “the world’s
are hybrid aircrafts that combine current combining the separate fuselage and wings most efficient large aero-engine”. Airbus
turbofan engines with new electric pro- into a single ‘blended wing body’, more claims the engine will help the A350 to
pulsor systems. This more flexible hybrid efficiently integrating the propulsors with achieve “25pc lower operating costs, fuel
system could be optimised to provide the the airframe in a more aerodynamic design. burn and CO² emissions when compared
high thrust required for take-off and the This could reduce the amount of energy the with previous-generation aircraft”.
energy density needed for a long cruise. aircraft would need by 20pc. The next generation of Rolls-Royce
This is an area being actively pursued in But neither of the world’s two main engine, the UltraFanTM, will offer a further
the E-FanX project, which involves Airbus, aircraft manufactures, Boeing and Airbus, 20pc to 25pc reduction in fuel consumption
Rolls-Royce and Siemens teaming up to are actively pursuing blended wing and CO² emissions and is due to enter into
develop a hybrid-electric propulsion flight technology. Such a major design shift has service in 2025.
demonstrator. too many technical challenges to make But it’s worth remembering that aviation
Using a British Aerospace 146 aircraft, it commercially viable right now. For currently contributes only 2pc to 3pc of
which usually carries around 100 pas- example, most airports wouldn’t be able to global CO² emissions. This compares to
about 30pc to 35pc for the whole transport
sengers, they plan to replace one of the accommodate a blended-wing aircraft. sector, and another 30pc to 35pc for
aircraft’s four Honeywell turbofan engines electricity generation.
with a propulsor fan driven by a 2MW NO ALTERNATIVE
electric motor. Unfortunately, for the type of flights most The number of air passengers is expected
In the project’s initial phases, the of us take there is currently no practical to double over the next two decades, but
electricity will actually be supplied by a alternative to jet-fuelled turbofans. For this so are total emissions so this is unlikely to
Rolls-Royce AE2100 gas turbine housed in reason, the main aircraft engine manufac- make aviation a bigger part of the problem.
the aircraft’s fuselage. But the E-FanX will turers are investing heavily in improving Reducing aviation emissions by 20pc per
still be an important step in the evolution their current engine technology. generation of aircraft probably might not
of hybrid electric technology. Airbus said it The International Air Transport make a sustainable improvement. But if
hybrid aircraft are made a reality, then
ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT ARE HERE – wants to make this technology available for Association estimates that each new gener- flying really could become even less of a
100-seat aircraft by the 2030s.
ation of aircraft is, on average, 20pc more
contributor to total emissions than it is
BUT THEY WON’T SOLVE AVIATION’S It’s also possible to equip a plane with fuel-efficient than the model it replaces today. Q
CARBON PROBLEM

By Duncan Walker NEWS

15,000km in a single flight. But, according ered range of more than 1,000km. EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE BEIJING
to my calculations, with batteries it could
The UK government plans to ban only fly a little more than 1,000km.
the sale of new conventional petrol and Even if all the passengers and cargo FIRST COMMERCIAL MODEL MINISTERIAL DECLARATION
diesel cars by 2040. Clearly the plan is were replaced with batteries, the range However, there could be another option.
for all citizens to be driving electric or would still be less than 2,000km. To keep Israeli firm Eviation recently revealed a COMMITMENTS FOR AVIATION
hybrid-electric cars, or - better still - riding its current range, the plane would need prototype version of what it claims will be
bicycles. batteries weighing 30 times more than its the world’s first commercial all-electric
But can electrification help cut emissions current fuel intake, meaning it would never passenger aircraft. SAFETY
from that other carbon-intensive form of get off the ground. The aircraft, named Alice, doesn’t just
passenger transport, flying? This trade-off is particularly bad for swap jet fuel for batteries but is a whole
This is a complex question and one where long-haul flights because the fuel makes new design concept that improves the way
size matters. It is possible for small aircraft up half of the aircraft’s weight at take-off. the propulsion system is integrated into the The 2019 event’s way forward conclusions noted the
to be powered by electricity. In fact several What’s more, a conventional plane gets airframe. Carrying nine passengers with volume of safety data produced in the aviation sector and
companies are already developing small lighter as the fuel is consumed, but an a range of 1,000km, Alice is expected to In their second such event since 2018, ICAO and the European encouraged stakeholders to process and share data to enhance
electric aircraft and they could come on the electric aircraft would have to carry the enter service in 2022. Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) brought together South aviation safety through a data driven approach; endorsed the
market within the next few years. same battery weight for the entire flight. Alice may be a practical alternative for East Asian aviation officials to discuss ways to improve local benefits of closer cooperation between States, ICAO and with
Regional Safety Oversight Organisations, like EASA and other
But for the large aircraft we all use more Size matters. small, regional journeys but not for most co-operation and strengthen regional safety performance. related agencies, to continue to improve aviation safety for the
frequently, it is unlikely to happen any time For a five- to 10-seat light aircraft, fuel scheduled passenger flights, even short- The jointly-hosted ICAO-EASA Forum on Civil Aviation in South travelling public; and recognised the ICAO-EASA Forum as a key
soon. The problem isn’t the propulsion is likely to make up 10pc to 20pc of the haul ones. So how can electrification help East Asia explored key objectives of the recently approved platform to facilitate the dialogue between national aviation
technology but the energy storage. Jet fuel aircraft’s weight. Simply swapping the fuel here? Improving battery technology is one Asia-Pacific Regional Aviation Safety Plan (AP-RASP), and authorities and stakeholders.
contains around 30 times more energy for batteries might still reduce the distance option. took stock of the regional initiatives underway supporting the
per kilogramme than the most advanced the plane can fly by an impractical amount. A new technology known as lithium-air implementation of the Beijing Declaration which was adopted at As a final conclusion, it was agreed to promote a 3rd ICAO-
lithium-ion battery currently available. But replacing two or three passengers with batteries can theoretically reach the same EASA Forum with an agenda focused on discussing the main
The world’s largest passenger plane, additional batteries would give a range of energy density as jet fuel. However, they last year’s Asia and Pacific Ministerial Conference. safety topics in more detail. Q
the Airbus A380, can fly 600 passengers 500km to 750km, compared to a fuel-pow- are still at the laboratory stage. Given

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