THE AVIATOR -- Paolo Iuvone COMM 4332 - Dr. Selber

Being A Socially Responsible Airline

Are you positive about leisure travel given rises in the cost of living and lack of disposable income?

We are positive. It’s true that there is uncertainty in the market due to geopolitical unrest and economic turmoil and this does impact demand. But our pre-booking period is getting longer, which is a good sign of strong demand. And worldwide, COVID travel restrictions are basically gone—and certainly not affecting Swiss travel at all.

Also, Switzerland is not experiencing the same rises in the cost of living index that are being seen elsewhere in Europe and the world. Inflation here is just around 2.5% compared with double-digit inflation elsewhere. That’s a big difference. Moreover, the Swiss are frequent travelers. So, overall, we are not too worried.

The one concern I do have is the fuel price. If fuel costs rise further, then that will affect our airfares. But because of competition and the fact that many trips are discretionary, there is a limit to the amount we can charge.

You serve long-haul destinations as well as popular tourist spots so how do you approach the customer experience?

Edelweiss is in the premium leisure segment. But our product is driven by our collaboration with Swiss International Air Lines, especially from the Zurich hub. Swiss offer more than 100 destinations and

Edelweiss have in excess of 80. Yet we only have one destination to which both of us fly—Palma de Mallorca. This is due to the above-average demand from Switzerland.

It means we share customers. Passengers that fly with Edelweiss also fly with Swiss. And that means we have to match the quality of the Swiss product. You can’t let it drop or both airlines would suffer.

But we have match that quality in a unique way because we are a leisure airline and that calls for a different kind of experience. Generally, our offer is less formal, there is more onboard interaction, the entertainment is more focused, and there is a different style to the cabin service. On short-haul flights within Europe, it isn’t really an issue, but on our long-haul flights maintaining quality while remembering we are a leisure brand is crucial to success.

Bernd Bauer, Edelweiss CEO, tells Graham Newton that sustainability also means having a sharp social focus.

Of course, we always have to be aware of our seat costs when considering what to include in our offer and the configuration of the aircraft is vital. Our Airbus A340s have 314 seats. Divided into Business Class with 27 lieflat seats, Economy with 211 seats, and Economy Max with 76 seats. In Economy Max, we offer our passengers more legroom and recline angle and other amenities.

The end result is a quality product that is cost-effective from the airline point of view.

How does the relationship with Swiss and the Lufthansa Group work? Do you make independent decisions or is everything decided at Group level?

It is a mixture. Fleet decisions are taken at group level, for example. And Edelweiss benefits from that because bigger aircraft orders basically mean a better price.

But we decide where to fly the aircraft. After all, Edelweiss has to think of its profit and loss and so we need the flexibility to make the right decisions for us. Our planning team constantly monitors the market and proposes destinations and the right aircraft fit.

We do involve Swiss in these decisions, but the leisure market has a life of its own and we need to move swiftly.

Will contactless travel help the customer experience or is there are a danger that airlines are disengaging from the customer?

No, contactless travel will help. Our customers basically have the same needs as a business traveler. They want travel to be easy and enjoyable. And once customers have used contactless travel, they want that option available every time they fly—no matter the airline or where they are in the world.

And though it may be contactless for the passenger, as an airline we learn more about the customer than we ever knew before. That means we can offer a better service and improve the relationship.

All the technologies in this area are of interest to me. Biometrics is the way to go. It is safe and secure and makes travel easier for customers. Automation is another great tool that will help to improve the product.

Can aviation be carbon neutral by 2050?

It is a big challenge. The key is sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). Without SAF in large enough quantities, net zero will be hard to achieve. Governments should incentivize SAF production. At the group level, we are in a good position though, and we are working with suppliers to produce SAF and promote this innovation.

Hydrogen and electric are interesting developments, but these will take a long time to be useful to commercial aviation. All technologies should be supported of course but the focus must be on SAF. It works and the only issue these days is reduced availability.

But, as an industry, we must never forget to focus on our overall responsibility. We must minimise emissions through fuel management and better flying procedures. And there is a lot to do in other sectors, such as waste management and the use of plastic.

Sustainability is not just about the environment. Aviation’s social impact must also be considered. Again, at the group level, we are funding projects around the world, including supporting schools in South Africa and Sri Lanka and various initiatives in the Dominican Republic.

As a leisure airline, we generate a lot of revenue for less developed countries through tourism, but we try to make sure the benefits of aviation extend beyond those involved in serving tourists.

Do you think the regulatory environment in Europe is supportive of aviation?

The European Union (EU) must be careful with regulations. Too often, their regulations add to costs for everybody, including the customer.

Take passenger compensation, EU261. The aviation eco-system is complex. and one player cannot control all the parts. But airlines are held responsible, even for situations beyond our control, and we have to pay out compensation. We need a much better solution where the costs of delays and cancellations are properly allocated. Otherwise, airlines will need to start increasing prices.

Hydrogen Fuel

Could Change The Way Aircraft Work, And Look

Last month, Airbus announced plans to overhaul an A380 airliner by adding an additional hydrogencombustion engine to the outside of the plane and installing monitoring equipment. With the changes, the company will be able to test hydrogen-powered flight in real-world conditions.

The move is part of a broader industry goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Passenger air travel is a growing contributor to climate change, making up about three percent of carbon emissions worldwide in 2021. While flying less and investing in more efficient planes can help reduce emissions, new technologies will likely be needed to reach net zero.

Other solutions, like battery-powered air taxis and sustainable aviation fuels, may help cut emissions, but hydrogen in particular might be one of the major paths forward to net zero because it could be used widely in the industry, from shorter regional hops to longer flights with larger planes.

Airbus’s test plane is actually the firstever A380, with a serial number of one, says Amanda Simpson, vice president of research and technology for Airbus Americas. The aircraft was originally used for certification of both the original A380 and the engine for the A350. Now, Airbus plans to modify it by adding an extra engine on top that will burn hydrogen instead of traditional jet fuel.

The A380 is the largest passenger airliner in service, leaving plenty of room to install monitoring equipment, as well as store the 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of liquid hydrogen that the plane will carry on board for fuel. (Airbus announced in 2019 that it would stop producing the A380, as the industry moves towards two-engine airliners with greater fuel efficiency.)

The placement of this engine, at the top of the plane and in the back, just in front of the tail, is significant, Simpson says. Because it’s separated from the four engines on the wings that will burn traditional jet fuel, Airbus will be able to fly another plane behind the A380 in flight and sample only the emissions from the hydrogen fuel.

Understanding emissions from hydrogen combustion in real-air conditions is one of the major goals of this testing program, Simpson says. While burning liquid hydrogen doesn’t produce CO2, the most abundant greenhouse gas, researchers are still eager to learn more about emissions from hydrogen-powered flight. Hydrogen engines will still produce some nitrous oxides, which are common pollutants, as well as water vapor, which acts as a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

The test engine will also allow Airbus to learn more about how best to run hydrogen combustion in flight. Researchers can change the operating conditions of the engine, like the fuel-to-air ratio it burns, and the temperature it runs at, to learn more about how to most efficiently power a hydrogen-powered plane.

Ultimately, these tests are part of the overall plan for Airbus to have a zero-emissions aircraft in service by 2035, Simpson says. In order to meet that deadline, major design decisions will have to be made around 2026, the same year this test craft is expected to take to the sky.

While hydrogen combustion is one of the main possibilities for such a plane, there’s still a chance Airbus will select another technology, Simpson explains. For example, instead of burning hydrogen, it could be combined with oxygen to generate electricity in hydrogen fuel cells. Automotive makers like Toyota and Daimler have been working on developing fuel cells for vehicles, and Simpson says that Airbus is considering the technology, or a hybrid system with both a fuel cell and a combustion engine.

The design of the aircraft these engines might attach to are still being worked out, too. Last year, Airbus revealed three different potential designs for hydrogenpowered aircraft: a prop plane, a small regional jet, and a concept plane that’s a different shape from most commercial aircraft today. It’s a blended-wing body.

This range of designs says something about the future of hydrogen-powered planes, as well as one of the major challenges of hydrogen-powered planes: fuel storage, says Jayant Mukhopadhaya, an analyst at the International Council for Clean Transportation.

Hydrogen is much less dense than traditional jet fuel, even when it’s compressed at high pressures. Comparing the amount of jet fuel and hydrogen needed to generate the same power, hydrogen takes up at least about four times more space.

The storage protocols are different, too. In most planes today, jet fuel lives in the wings. However, hydrogen needs to be contained at high pressures and low temperatures, so it tends to be kept in larger, cylindrical tanks. These tanks can’t fit in the wings of traditional aircraft designs, and instead need to be in the body. The volume of hydrogen needed to fuel a plane can severely limit the remaining space, reducing passenger capacity by a third or more.

Aircraft would likely need to be totally redesigned in order to better fit hydrogen inside. One of the concept planes Airbus revealed last year, the blended-wing body design, is an example of a configuration that would better use space for fuel storage. This model in particular may also have other benefits over traditional plane designs, like increasing the aerodynamic efficiency by ten percent or more, Simpson says.

Trying out totally new shapes likely won’t happen fast enough for the first hydrogen-powered planes, Mukhopadhaya says, so companies will probably have to retrofit existing designs to carry large tanks of hydrogen fuel. But eventually, hydrogen combustion could reconfigure what we think of as airplanes.

While these new aircraft could overhaul the industry, even just the two more familiar designs that Airbus released could have a major impact on aviation—the small regional jet and prop plane would together be able to service about a third of all passenger miles flown today, according to a recent ICCT analysis that Mukhopadhaya co-authored.

There are still major challenges to implementing hydrogen-combustion planes, including limited fueling infrastructure, higher costs, and concerns about how sustainable the hydrogen supply is. And longer flights on larger planes will likely take longer to switch over to hydrogen, because of the limited space on board for fuel.

But testing hydrogen-powered engines in real flight conditions could be a major step to legitimizing the technology, and could bring aviation one step closer to reaching net-zero emissions. For now, we’ll have to wait for 2026 to learn more from Airbus’s A380 flight tests.

Aviation Shopping

If you're in the market for some new aviation gear, there are several items that are worth considering. A high-quality aviation headset can improve communication during flights, while an aviator watch can provide important information such as GPS navigation, airport details, and weather reports. A reliable flight bag is another useful accessory for pilots, offering ample storage space for all your flight essentials. And for those who use iPads in the cockpit, a secure kneeboard is a must-have item to keep your device within easy reach. Finally, a comprehensive flight planning and navigation app can make a world of difference when it comes to safety and efficiency in the air.

The most versatile and easy-to-use aviation flight computer for fast, accurate flight planning and calculations. Using the latest microchip and display technologies, the features and functions of the ASA CX-3 Flight Computer make it the most useful aviation calculator available. Includes 4 AAA batteries.

The ASA CX-3 Flight Computer makes flight planning simple by taking confusion out of the equation. Fast, versatile and easy to use, the CX-3 delivers accurate results quickly and efficiently. It can be used on all FAA and Canadian pilot, mechanic, and dispatcher knowledge exams. Whether used for flight planning, ground school, or knowledge testing, the menu organization reflects the order in which a flight is normally planned and executed, resulting in a natural flow from one function to the next with a minimum of keystrokes.

Multiple aviation functions can be performed on the CX-3 flight computer including those related to time, speed, distance, heading, wind, fuel, altitude, cloud base, standard atmosphere, glide, climb & descent, weight & balance, as well as a holding pattern function .

$ 149.99

The Bose A30 Aviation Headset is the most comfortable and full-featured aroundear headset Bose has ever created. As the first-ever around-ear aviation headset with three modes of user selectable active noise cancellation, it dramatically improves every flight experience. The A30 is the best combination of comfort, audio clarity and active noise cancellation available on the market. Plus, its lightweight design is FAA TSO and EASA/ TSO-C139a certified, proving its durability, even in the toughest conditions.

The Bose A30 Aviation headset harnesses the power of sound to transform the flying experience. With unmatched comfort and three modes of active noise cancellation, the A30 was designed to strip away distractions and let you focus on being the best pilot you can be. Because no matter the aircraft, there’s nothing like the freedom of flight.

$ 149.99

$ 549.99

Flightsuits aren’t just for military and airshow pilots. They have evolved over time to be the perfect cockpit companion. A flight suit can protect your real clothes from oil, grease, fluids, and sweat stains. They fit withoutbindinginseatbeltorparachuteharnesses,the pockets are the right sizes and reachable in flight, they keep your clothes from snagging on things, the long sleeves provide sun protection, and the short collar keepstheshoulderstrapsfromdiggingintoyourneck. And, on long cross-countries, the main zipper opens from the bottom so you can use a TravelJohn without undressing (try that in jeans).

This Flight Suit features an Air Force style 2-way front zipper, leg zippers, long sleeves with hook & loop name tab fastener, seven pockets, and an adjustable waist and cuffs.

$ 69.99

The first YOKE (1:1 scale yoke wheel) inspired by the iconic Boeing 787 Dreamliner, replicating the airliner’s flight kinematics and allow you to experience the same sensations as actual Boeing pilots thanks to Thrustmaster’s proprietary PENDULR mechanism.

Accompanied by a 3-axis throttle quandrant with swappable levers and the TM Fly Desk Mount (a sturdy metal mounting system), the Thrustmaster TCA Yoke Pack Boeing Edition allows for a unique, next-level, airliner flight experience in Microsoft Flight Simulator (on both XBox Series X|S and Windows PCs) and in the best flight simulation games on both Xbox and Windows.

FEELS LIKE A DREAM

TCA Yoke Pack Boeing Edition is an aviation system officially licensed by both Boeing and Xbox, for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. It is also compatible with PC. TCA Boeing Edition, Thrustmaster’s new flagship civil aviation range, is a line of products allowing for cutting-edge new features with a highly-specific goal in mind: replicating the different controls, flight kinematics and sensations experienced by real Boeing pilots at the controls of a 787 airliner

SUSPENDED PENDUL_R MECHANISM

Thrustmaster’s suspended PENDUL_R mechanism replicates the sensations of using a floor-mounted pendular yoke — like those found in real Boeing airliners — in an exciting new way. TCA Yoke Boeing Edition features a long 8.3-inch / 21-cm range of travel.

2 ADDITIONAL AXES

TCA Yoke Boeing Edition features 2 additional axes on its base, allowing for a variety of standalone maneuvers — including the ability to directly take off without having to use a throttle quadrant.

100% METAL FRAME

The yoke’s internal structure is 100% metal, for excellent sturdiness and balanced weight distribution of the controls, allowing for outstanding stability

How to Become a Pilot

1.Research Pilot Schools

The first step to become a private or commercial pilot is to research your flight training options. Learn and compare available programs offered by flight schools, and pick the best match for your aviation goals.

2.Take an Admissions Flight

Successfully completing an Admissions Flight is required before enrolling in a pilot training program. This flight lesson will help you see first-hand the training, aircraft, and quality of instruction a flight school will offer you. It is also a great way to get a better sense of what it’s like to fly from behind the controls.

3.Apply for FAA Medical Certificate

Pilots must meet basic medical requirements to fly. If you want to fly professionally, you must meet higher medical standards than recreational pilots and should apply for a first class medical certificate through an Aeromedical Examiner (AME).

4.Apply for FAA Student Pilot Certificate

Apply for a student pilot certificate through the FAA’s Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application (IACRA) website (your flight instructor can help with this). While you don’t need a student pilot certificate to start flying lessons, you will need it to fly solo during your training.

5.Start Flight Training Lessons

Start taking flight training lessons and begin working towards obtaining the aeronautical knowledge and pilot training experience requirements needed to become a private pilot.

6.Pass Private Pilot Knowledge Test

During your private pilot flight training, you will need to take and pass the computer-based FAA private pilot knowledge test. To be eligible for the test, you must receive an endorsement from your flight instructor.

7.Pass Private Pilot Practical Exam

The final step in earning your FAA private pilot certificate is to take a practical exam with a Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE). This exam consists of both an oral and a flight portion, and once completed you will be a private pilot.

Los Angeles International Airport

Delta is Los Angeles’ #1 carrier

The latest OAG data shows that the California airport has 159,000 departing passenger flights this summer (March 26th-October 28th).

As shown in the following table, Delta is Los Angeles’ number one carrier, and it would also be if the analysis examined seats for sale or available seat kilometers instead. The Embraer 175, shown below, is Delta’s leading type at the airport.

Analysis of OAG schedules data shows Delta’s pole position is because its flights are up by 1.7% versus summer 2019. In contrast, American – number one until the pandemic – is a shadow of its former self, with services -36.6%. United remains more than a quarter smaller than it was (-26.4%).

Delta has one in five Los Angeles flights on a network spanning 45 routes (fewer than America and Delta). They include brand-new Auckland, taking off on October 28th, the last day of the northern summer.

In less than a year and a half, Los Angeles has welcomed multiple new airlines (or soon will). Examples are shown below in month order. The next to begin is Taiwan’s Starlux, whose A350-900s are set to take off to Los Angeles on April 26th.

♦ December 2021: ZIPAIR

♦ April 2022: french bee

♦ May 2022: Air Transat

♦

June 2022: Breeze, ITA Airways (replaced Alitalia), Volaris El Salvador

♦ August 2022: Norse Atlantic

♦ October 2022: Air Premia

♦ November 2022: Cayman Airlines

♦ February 2023: Lynx Air

♦ April 2023: Starlux

Net-Zero-Carbon World

9 scenarios, lots of sustainable aviation fuel

Several major airlines have pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions by midcentury to fight climate change. It’s an ambitious goal that will require an enormous ramp-up in sustainable aviation fuels, but that alone won’t be enough, our latest research shows.

The idea of jetliners running solely on fuel made from used cooking oil from restaurants or corn stalks might seem futuristic, but it’s not that far away.

Airlines are already experimenting with sustainable aviation fuels, including biofuels made from agriculture residues, trees, corn and used cooking oil, and synthetic fuels made with captured carbon and green hydrogen.

United Airlines, which has been using a blend of used oil or waste fat and fossil fuels on some flights from Los Angeles and Amsterdam, recently announced plans to power 50,000 flights a year between its Chicago and Denver hubs using ethanol-based sustainable aviation fuels by 2028. The airline also launched a US$100 million fund on Feb. 21, 2023, with Air Canada, Boeing, GE Aerospace, JPMorgan Chase and Honeywell to invest in sustainable aviation fuel startups to expand the industry.

In a new study, we examined different options for aviation to reach netzero emissions.

The bottom line: Replacing fossil jet fuel with sustainable aviation fuels will be crucial, but the industry will still need to invest in direct-air carbon capture and storage to offset emissions that can’t be cut. Each pathway has important trade-offs and hurdles.

Scenarios for the future

Before the pandemic, in 2019, aviation accounted for about 3.1% of total global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion, and the

number of passenger miles traveled each year was rising. If aviation emissions were a country, that would make it the sixth-largest emitter, closely following Japan.

In addition to releasing carbon emissions, burning jet fuel produces soot and water vapor, known as contrails, that contribute to warming, and these are not avoided by switching to sustainable aviation fuels.

Aviation is also one of the hardest-to-decarbonize sectors of the economy. Small electric and hydrogen-powered planes are being developed, but long-haul flights with lots of passengers are likely decades away.

We developed and analyzed nine scenarios spanning a range of projected passenger and freight demand, energy intensity and carbon intensity of aviation to explore how the industry might get to net-zero emissions by 2050.

Several major airlines have pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions by midcentury to fight climate change. It’s an ambitious goal that will require an enormous ramp-up in sustainable aviation fuels, but that alone won’t be enough, our latest research shows.

The idea of jetliners running solely on fuel made from used cooking oil from restaurants or corn stalks might seem futuristic, but it’s not that far away.

Airlines are already experimenting with sustainable aviation fuels, including biofuels made from agriculture residues, trees, corn and used cooking oil, and synthetic fuels made with captured carbon and green hydrogen.

United Airlines, which has been using a blend of used oil or waste fat and fossil fuels on some flights from Los Angeles and Amsterdam, recently announced plans to power 50,000 flights a year between its Chicago and Denver hubs using ethanol-based sustainable aviation fuels by 2028. The airline also launched a US$100 million fund on Feb. 21, 2023, with Air Canada, Boeing, GE Aerospace, JPMorgan Chase and Honeywell to invest in sustainable aviation fuel startups to expand the industry.

In a new study, we examined different options for aviation to reach netzero emissions.

The bottom line: Replacing fossil jet fuel with sustainable aviation fuels will be crucial, but the industry will still need to invest in direct-air carbon capture and storage to offset emissions that can’t be cut. Each pathway has important trade-offs and hurdles.

Scenarios for the future

Before the pandemic, in 2019, aviation accounted for about 3.1% of total global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion, and the number of passenger miles traveled each year was rising. If aviation emissions were a country, that would make it the sixth-largest emitter, closely following Japan.

In addition to releasing carbon emissions, burning jet fuel produces soot and water vapor, known as contrails, that contribute to warming, and these are not avoided by switching to sustainable aviation fuels.

Aviation is also one of the hardest-to-decarbonize sectors of the economy. Small electric and hydrogen-powered planes are being developed, but long-haul flights with lots of passengers are likely decades away.

We developed and analyzed nine scenarios spanning a range of projected passenger and freight demand, energy

intensity and carbon intensity of aviation to explore how the industry might get to net-zero emissions by 2050.

We found that as much as 19.8 exajoules of sustainable aviation fuels could be needed for the entire sector to reach net-zero CO₂ emissions. With other efficiency improvements, that could be reduced to as little as 3 exajoules. To put that into context, 3 exajoules is almost equivalent to all biofuels produced in 2019 and far surpasses the 0.005 exajoules of bio-based jet fuel produced in 2019. An exajoule is a measure of energy.

Flying less and improving airplanes’ energy efficiency, such as using more efficient “glide” landings that allow airlines to approach the airport with engines at near idle, can help reduce the amount of fuel needed. But even in our rosiest scenarios –where demand grows at 1% per year, compared to the historical average of 4% per year, and energy efficiency improves by 4% per year rather than 1% – aviation would still need about 3 exajoules of sustainable aviation fuels. Why offsets are still necessary

A rapid expansion in biofuel sustainable aviation fuels is easier said than done. It could require as much as 1.2 million square miles (300 million hectares) of dedicated land to grow crops to turn into fuel – roughly 19% of global cropland today.

Another challenge is cost. The global average price of fossil jet fuel is about about US$3 per gallon ($0.80 per liter), while the cost to produce bio-based jet fuels is often twice as much. The cheapest, HEFA, which uses fats, oils and greases, ranges in cost from $2.95 to $8.67 per gallon ($0.78 to $2.29 per liter), but it depends on the availability of waste oil.

Fischer-Tropsch biofuels, produced by a chemical reaction that converts carbon monoxide and hydrogen into liquid hydrocarbons, range from $3.79 to $8.71 per gallon ($1 to $2.30 per liter). And synthetic fuels are from $4.92 to $17.79 per gallon ($1.30 to $4.70 per liter).

Realistically, reaching net-zero emissions will likely also rely on carbon dioxide removal.

In a future with similar airline use as today, as much as 3.4 gigatons of carbon dioxide would have to be captured from the air and locked away – pumped underground, for example – for aviation to reach net-zero. That could cost trillions of dollars.

For these offsets to be effective, the carbon removal would also have to follow a robust eligibility criteria and be effectively permanent. This is not happening today in airline offsetting programs, where airlines are mostly buying cheap, nonpermanent offsets, such as those involving forest conservation and management projects.

Some caveats apply to our findings, which could increase the need for offsets even more.

Our assessment assumes sustainable aviation fuels to be net-zero carbon emissions. However, the feedstocks for these fuels currently have life-cycle emissions, including from fertilizer, farming and transportation. The American Society for Testing Materials also currently has a maximum blend limit: up to 50% sustainable fuels can be blended into conventional jet fuel for aviation in the U.S., though airlines have been testing 100% blends in Europe.

Electric Planes Are Coming:

Short-hop regional flights could be running on batteries in a few years

Electric planes might seem futuristic, but they aren’t that far off, at least for short hops.

Two-seater Velis Electros are already quietly buzzing around Europe, electric sea planes are being tested in British Columbia, and larger planes are coming. Air Canada announced on Sept. 15, 2022, that it would buy 30 electric-hybrid regional aircraft from Sweden’s Heart Aerospace, which expects to have its 30-seat

plane in service by 2028. Analysts at the U.S. National Renewable Energy Lab note that the first hybrid electric 50-to 70-seat commuter plane could be ready not long after that. In the 2030s, they say, electric aviation could really take off.

That matters for managing climate change. About 3% of global emissions come from aviation today, and with more passengers and flights expected as the population

expands, aviation could be producing three to five times more carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 than it did before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aerospace engineer and assistant professor Gökçin Çınar develops sustainable aviation concepts, including hybrid-electric planes and hydrogen fuel alternatives, at the University of Michigan. We asked her about the key ways to cut aviation emissions today and where technologies like electrification and hydrogen are headed.

Why is aviation so difficult to electrify?

Aircraft are some of the most complex vehicles out there, but the biggest problem for electrifying them is the battery weight.

If you tried to fully electrify a 737 with today’s batteries, you would have to take out all the passengers and cargo and fill that space with batteries just to fly for under an hour.

Jet fuel can hold about 50 times more energy compared to batteries per unit mass. So, you can have 1 pound of jet fuel or 50 pounds of batteries. To close that gap,

we need to either make lithium-ion batteries lighter or develop new batteries that hold more energy. New batteries are being developed, but they aren’t yet ready for aircraft.

Even though we might not be able to fully electrify a 737, we can get some fuel burn benefits from batteries in the larger jets by using hybrid propulsion systems. We are trying to make that happen in the short term, with a 2030-2035 target for smaller regional planes. The less fuel burned during flight, the fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

How does hybrid aviation work to cut emissions?

Hybrid electric aircraft are similar to hybrid electric cars in that they use a combination of batteries and aviation fuels. The problem is that no other industry has the weight limitations that we do in the aerospace industry.

That’s why we have to be very smart about how and how much we are hybridizing the propulsion system.

Hybrids would still burn fuel during flight, but it could be considerably less than just relying entirely on jet fuel.

THE AVIATOR

BY: PAOLO IUVONE - 2023