EU, Industry to Fund 'Green' Aviation R&D

The Clean Sky project will examine everything from engines to aircraft design to reduce emissions and lower the carbon footprint of the aeronautics industry

by Leigh Phillips

The European Commission on Tuesday (5 January) launched a joint public-private partnership to develop "green" aviation technologies.

The Clean Sky initiative, with €1.6 billion in funding, is one of the European Union's biggest research funding programmes ever.

Although the aviation sector is responsible for just 3% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, at the same time, its contribution to climate change is growing faster than any other source.

Greenhouse gas emissions from international aviation increased by almost 70 % from 1990 to 2002, while in the EU, emissions from aviation increased by 87% between 1990 and 2006, according to the commission.

With this in mind, the Clean Sky research programme hopes to encourage the aeronautics manufacturers to develop and produce greener products.

Aeronautics manufacturers Airbus, Dassault, Saab and Rolls Royce have signed up to the initiative. Half the money will come from public funds from the EU's R&D funding programme and the other half from industry.

By 2020, the initiative hopes to have cut emissions of carbon dioxide by 50%, nitrogen oxide by 80% and noise pollution by 50%, as well as setting up an eco-friendly life cycle for products—across design, manufacture, maintenance and scrapping or recycling.

Åke Svensson, the CEO of SAAB, said at the launch: "Clean Sky will address two simple questions. How we fly and what we fly.

"The carbon footprint aviation leaves behind is seen as not being acceptable."

The Clean Sky project, which will look at six technical areas, from engines to overall aircraft design, involves 86 organisations from 16 countries: 54 private companies, 15 research centres and 17 universities.

Specifically, the researchers will investigate "Smart wing" design for fixed-wing aircraft; low weight, low noise regional aircraft; innovative rotor blades and turbine engines for rotorcraft; sustainable green engines; and eco-design to minimise fuel consumption and maximise recycling of old aircraft

Also supporting emissions reductions from aircraft is the commission's proposal to include the aviation sector in the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS). From 2012, all airlines coming to and leaving the 27 member states, as well as intra-EU flights, will be included in the scheme.

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