By Bikram Vohra
Aviation is changing rapidly. It was not so long ago that flying was not only exclusive but inextricably linked to paper. You carried a passport, a ticket with several pages and small print on them that you never read. Then you received a boarding pass after showing your health and inoculation certificates. Remember how often you panicked because you hadn’t retained that little stub with your luggage tag on it. And as you bruised the ozone layer and pushed out 90 kilograms of carbon dioxide (Co2) per hour of flying per passenger, you never even thought it was an issue. No one told you it was, and neither pilot, cabin crew, nor flyer cared.
Today, aviation belches out 1 billion tonnes of Co2 emission, and its carbon footprint contributes a massive 5% chunk to global warming. Ironically, passengers are still casual about it, and few, if any, reduce their flying hours and hence, their carbon footprint increases as much as threefold. On the contrary, rather than wake up to the reality, the more privileged who fly on private jets produce five times more emissions than that of a commercial passenger. Time magazine offered a specific example of singer Taylor Swift. Her jet “topped the list at more than 170 flights since January, totalling up to 15.9 days in the air, and 8,293.54 metric tons of Co2 emissions—that’s equivalent to all the emissions from the energy used by over 1,000 homes in the United States for a year.”
In two other cases, the celebrity flights were only 14 and 17 minutes long, thereby sparking much criticism of the self-indulgence. In recent weeks environmentalists have criticised the rich and famous for what is seen as wantonness and excess. They are pushing for a crackdown on private flying. Guilt-tripping those who continue to do so has been given an added edge by publicly shaming them.
According to the Washington Post, quoting Peter DeCarlo, an associate professor of environmental health and engineering at Johns Hopkins University who studies atmospheric air pollution: “A short jump with a private jet requires lofting into the air a 10-to 20-ton jet and then moving it from point A to point B, I know no one likes being stuck in traffic, but you’re not launching your car into the air. … The act of taking a huge piece of metal and putting it up into the sky is going to be an enormous carbon footprint that’s really not necessary, especially for these kinds of short distances.”
But, to be fair, aviation, per se, is taking this issue of global warming very seriously. So, too, business aviation, where green band is the name of the game at its 2023 flagship annual conference in Geneva as it faces a downturn in flights on the back of commercial aviation’s rebound and growing pressure to become more sustainable.
The European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) kicked off the end of May, bringing together everyone from brokers and plane makers to engine producers. The core of the conference is to discuss the viability of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) and sustainable aviation fuel because this sector is feeling the heat.
Sustainable Aviation is the name of the game. Airlines and aircraft manufacturers have been focusing on reducing carbon emissions and developing more environmentally friendly technologies. This includes the adoption of sustainable aviation fuels, improvements in fuel efficiency, and exploring electric and hybrid aircraft. They have a very impressive target. The industry intends to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. This monumental exercise will be supported by accelerated efficiency measures, energy transition and innovation across the aviation sector. International Air Transport Association (IATA) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have already initiated working partnerships with governments around the world. Top aircraft manufacturers are now in an ongoing relationship with power plant manufacturers. They are spending billions on research, all of it designed to get that goal in the next 27 years, if not earlier.
Rolls Royce recently announced its trials for the UltraFan demonstrator, the power plant designed for the future. “UltraFan is a demonstrator aero engine – the largest in the world – containing a suite of new technologies that deliver greater fuel efficiency, which in turn means lower emissions and greater sustainability. It will be ready to run on 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from day one of service. In addition, the company is actively exploring potential options for hybrid-electric and hydrogen power solutions.
Pratt & Whitney’s PW1000G is a highly advanced geared turbofan engine (GTF). This engine family is the quietest, most efficient, and most environmental in its class, delivering the lowest fuel consumption and Co2 emissions for single-aisle aircraft. The geared fan will be the foundation for more sustainable propulsion in the decades ahead. GTF engines are a generation ahead and, with GTF advantage for the A320neo family, proving their ability to unlock additional benefits. These geared engines are able to attain a high bypass ratio, improve fuel efficiency by 16% and reduce noise by 50% compared with conventional aircraft and significantly reduce Co2 and NOx emissions as well.
The company is currently on the back foot over delays in servicing its clients because of supply chain issues, but that does not detract from the legitimacy of the GTF concept. The closure of Go Air has not been a positive for the engine maker because waiting for delivery or support in the current surge is not an option for any carrier.
Meanwhile, General Electric is also engaged in its Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines (RISE) project. This is being implemented in partnership with French firm Safran, which designs, develops and manufactures aircraft and rocket engines. The RISE engine is planned in such a way that it will support both hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuels while achieving a 20% reduction in both fuel burn and carbon dioxide emissions as compared to its predecessors.
As a complement to these innovations in the power plant sector, hull manufacturers are also actively pursuing new concepts with aircraft design. For example, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350 XWB have advanced features, have less drag, improved fuel efficiency and increased passenger comfort. Examples include the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350 XWB.
The rapid and dramatic impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) comes into this scenario. Air transport generates a total of 13.5 million jobs which contribute around US $880 billion a year to world GDP. New technologies are reshaping aerospace with AI, robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), aircraft systems and hybrid and electric airplanes.
According to Rolls Royce, combining IoT with AI has been remarkable. Its spokesman says; “In the past few years, we have been installing an increasing number of data-gathering IoT sensors into our products. The data these devices generate is aggregated and then analysed in the cloud. This information already helps predict a particular engine’s maintenance and service needs based on the performance of many other engines of the same model. Nowadays, the internal operations of these smart engines aren’t monitored on just an individual basis. Engineers can now look at how every single one of these engines’ parameters performs over time – or they can look at all of them at once.” The use of AI has made these sorties even more efficient and result oriented.
Bikram Vohra is the Consulting Editor of IADB
