An energy turnaround in aviation with the goal of zero emissions is possible by the middle of the century and requires a comprehensive push for innovation. This is emphasized by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Federal Association of the German Aerospace Industry (BDLI) in today’s joint handover of the white paper ‘Zero Emission Aviation – Emissions-Free Flying’ to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi ). For the first time, the paper comprehensively brings together the current state of research and technological fields of action on the way to emission-free flying in all areas of aviation. A diverse technology mix with extensive developments in the areas of sustainable fuels, new configurations, Battery and fuel cell technology as well as various hybrid drive solutions and new gas turbine concepts may be necessary. The transformation to emission-free aviation by 2050 requires close cooperation between science, industry and politics.
“It is now time to open a new chapter in aviation. Our ‘White Paper’ shows the way to emission-free flying for the ‘Green Deal’ in aviation, which leads to new technologies, attractive high-tech jobs, fascinating products and social prosperity promotes in Germany and Europe, “says Prof. Rolf Henke, member of the DLR Executive Board responsible for aeronautical research and technology. “With the transformation of an entire industry, this path also holds great research efforts in store. In particular, flying demonstrators will be an essential element when it comes to electric flying, hydrogen, new fuels and new aircraft configurations.”
Reiner Winkler, BDLI Vice President Aviation emphasizes: “We are now facing two unprecedented challenges. On the one hand, the corona pandemic has triggered the worst economic crisis in our industry. The collapse of global air traffic is causing a dramatic situation for manufacturers as well as ours Deeply tiered supply chain that is located throughout Germany. Second, aviation is on the threshold of climate-neutral flying. We have set ourselves ambitious goals: We will fly climate-neutral by 2050. That is why up to 90 percent of our investments have been in research for a long time and development is directly aimed at reducing emissions. “
In the current situation of massive economic crisis and maximum technological challenge, this white paper is the initial spark for a departure into disruptive technologies. At the same time, it strengthens the proven path of cooperation between industry and large-scale aerospace research. The aircraft of the future should be climate-neutral and competitive at the same time, and it should be built in Germany and Europe. The white paper will be a valuable basis for intensifying cooperation between research, industry and politics in order to strengthen both climate protection and Germany as a business location with the “energy transition in the sky”.
Extensive new technologies
Zero Emission Aviation requires a great deal of research. For the goal of emission-free air transport, many radical technologies must be examined in parallel and their use assessed depending on the size and range of aircraft. In the area of urban air mobility and regional aircraft for short trips within metropolitan areas, battery-electric concepts show a perspective , aircraft with hybrid drive concepts based on fuel cells will replace today’s aircraft on short and medium-haul routes. Sustainable fuels in connection with new gas turbine concepts have great potential for reducing emissions on medium and long haul routes .The use of directly burned green hydrogen is moving into the focus in the long term. In perspective, the use of turbo-hybrid-electric drive concepts through to fuel cells is also conceivable on long journeys. New aircraft configurations offer the possibility of integrating new drive technologies particularly efficiently.
The successful introduction of key technologies for climate-friendly air traffic requires extensive flight tests and thus a scheduled demonstrator program. Until the global aircraft fleet will be replaced by the next generation in around 20 to 30 years, investments in new technologies will also require financial resources to improve current aircraft in terms of their climate impact. New operational measures such as the implementation of climate-friendly routing could, for example, be applied to a substantial part of the fleet in a very short time. DLR studies show that even small changes in flight control with only one percent increase in operating costs could lead to a reduction in climate impacts of up to ten percent.