There is no ‘silver bullet’ solution to decarbonising aviation, according Glenn Llewellyn, vice-president of Zero-Emission Aircraft at Airbus.
Instead, Airbus’ climate strategy involves accelerating several pathways simultaneously while fostering the development of a new energy ecosystem.
Sitting here in 2021, it’s hard to belive aviation can achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Yes, it’s almost 30 years ahead but if you think back 30 years to 1991, how far have we come since then? Not as far as we have to go, for sure.
However, Llewellyn is increasingly confident energy pathways like sustainable aviation fuel, hydrogen and Power-to-Liquid (PtL) synthetic e-fuel will all play an integral role in the aviation industry’s road to zero.
Here, Llewellyn answers five key questions about the decrabonisation of aviation:
Q Is hydrogen is the answer to aviation’s carbon problem?
Glenn Llewwellyn At Airbus, we’ve been clear from the beginning: there’s no ‘silver bullet’ solution to decarbonising aviation.
The aviation industry has set itself some ambitious targets to reduce its CO2 emissions. But these targets don’t go far enough, particularly in the context of a growing aviation market.
A mix of new energy pathways and fuels, including hydrogen, will be vital to achieving the disruptive CO2 reductions the industry is targeting over the medium to long terms.
This is why Airbus’ climate strategy involves accelerating several pathways simultaneously while fostering the development of a new energy ecosystem.
Can you describe these energy pathways?
For one, there’s today’s sustainable aviation fuel, otherwise known as SAF, which is a biomass-based fuel (used cooking oil, waste, residue, etc.). All Airbus aircraft are certified to operate on up to a 50% SAF blend.
In March, we launched a 100% SAF project that will help support SAF’s future certification for blends that exceed today’s maximum of 50%.
In addition to biomass-based fuel, there are other alternative fuels that represent a major opportunity to reduce aviation’s CO2 emissions, such as Power-to-Liquid (PtL) synthetic e-fuel made of renewable hydrogen and CO2 captured from Direct Air Carbon Capture.
We at Airbus see PtL as having huge potential, not only in terms of climate impact, but also in cost and scalability. And, of course, there’s hydrogen, a fuel we’re learning more about from the automotive and space industries.
Hydrogen is likely to be a solution for several industries to meet their climate targets, and we believe aviation will be no exception.
What are the challenges to scaling up this new energy ecosystem?
For SAF, there’s still a lot of work to do to encourage its uptake, which accounts for less than 1% of today’s flights. Incentives and long-term policies that encourage SAF use will be essential in this respect.
Similarly, the global hydrogen economy is still in its infancy. The availability of green hydrogen – made using renewable energy – to fuel future aircraft is undoubtedly a key challenge, but we’ve been carefully observing the hydrogen ecosystem and are excited by the incredible progress.
We expect all of this rapid development to help drive down the costs of hydrogen for aviation, while boosting its availability in the years to come.
What is needed to overcome these challenges?
Without a doubt: collaboration.
This is why we’re collaborating closely with a network of partners – including engine manufacturers, airports, technology partners, and energy suppliers – to push the development of the various technologies to support their introduction and scale-up.
Our main objective is to explore and make technically and economically viable as many alternative pathways as possible, while putting in place the infrastructure required to encourage their widespread adoption.
Are you optimistic the aviation industry will be able to significantly reduce CO? emissions by 2050?
Yes, I’m optimistic. The road to climate-neutral aviation is already mapped out: we have identified the key energy pathways, as well as a realistic timeline in which to achieve our goal.
We at Airbus strongly believe the time is now to invest in all possible avenues to reduce aviation’s climate impact, and we encourage like-minded industry players to support us in this endeavour.
“Decarbonising aviation is a team sport, and we’re in it to win it.”
What are Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF)?
SAF are the only alternative fuels that are certified for use (up to 50% blend) in current aircraft.
Biomass-based fuel: This type of SAF is made of biomass – plant or animal material such as used cooking oil, waste, residue, etc. – used for energy production.
Power-to-Liquid (PtL) synthetic e-fuel: This fuel takes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – for example, via Direct Air Carbon Capture – and synthesises it with hydrogen extracted from water.
This approach transforms greenhouse gas into a raw material from which a fossil-fuel substitute can be produced with the help of electricity from renewable sources.
What is PtL fuel?
Power-to-Liquid (PtL) synthetic e-fuel combines hydrogen with carbon obtained via Direct Air Carbon Capture.
What is green hydrogen
Green hydrogen is produced using ‘clean’ technology such as electrolysis to separate the hydrogen and oxygen molecules in water.
What is ‘clean’ tech? Basically, it’s using renewable energy such as wind, hydropower, solar panels or geothermal sources to provide the electricity for the electrolysis process.
At the moment, green hydrogen accounts for less than 1% of the total hydrogen produced. However, the cost of renewable energies is falling and investment in electrolysers is booming.
As a result, green hydrogen production capacity could achieve a 50-fold increase in the next six years, according to some estimates. This means green hydrogen could be on track to supply up to 25% of the world’s energy needs by 2050.
Green hydrogen eco-system
It’s all very well having green hydrogen but to be of any use, it needs to be suppplied to airports in huge quantities.
When demand reaches a tipping point, airports are expected to develop on-site facilities to produce hydrogen within close proximity to operations.
Hydrogen produced at airports is liquefied and stored on site. Hydrogen produced off site is transported to liquefaction sites via pipelines, notably repurposed natural gas pipelines.
Once hydrogen / PtL arrives at airports, it is distributed directly to aircraft via refuelling at gates – similar to today’s refuelling methods for jet fuel.
Hydrogen is more likely to be used to fuel short-haul aircraft (via combustion or fuel cells), while PtL – blended with jet fuel – remains an option to fuel longer-haul aircraft.
