As part of a £113-million (US$136-million) investment from the UK, three projects led by Rolls-Royce will receive £82.8 million (US$100 million) to advance the development of a zero-emission liquid hydrogen combusting jet engine. The funding is being awarded through the ATI Program. The ATI Program co-funds industry-led innovation in civil... Read more →
Nippon Paper Industries, Sumitomo and Green Earth Institute agreed to begin trilateral consideration of the first commercial production of cellulosic bioethanol from woody biomass in Japan and its development into bio-chemical products. Bioethanol is currently attracting attention as a renewable energy source and as feedstock for biofuels such as SAF... Read more →
United Airlines, Tallgrass, and Green Plains announced a new joint venture—Blue Blade Energy—to develop and then commercialize a novel Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) technology that uses ethanol as its feedstock. United, Tallgrass, and Green Plains will invest up to a combined $50 million in the joint venture. United has entered... Read more →
Emirates has operated a demonstration flight on a Boeing 777-300ER, powering one of its engines 100% with Neste’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The flight took off on 30 January from Dubai International Airport (DXB) flying for more than one hour over the Dubai coastline. It is the first demonstration flight... Read more →
Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse is working on systems and equipment to reduce fuel consumption and to contribute to more carbon-neutral aircraft. An emblematic project consists of using a hydrogen fuel cell power source to generate sufficient electrical power, in the range of 400 kW, to feed all the non-propulsion systems of next-generation... Read more →
The consortium of Abu Dhabi-based Masdar, TotalEnergies, Siemens Energy and Marubeni announced that the Masdar-led initiative focused on green hydrogen to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is actively working with licensors to certify a new production pathway for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from methanol. This novel pathway will provide one... Read more →
The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award some $118 million in funding for 17 projects to accelerate the production of sustainable biofuels. Made from widely available domestic feedstocks and advanced refining technologies, energy-dense biofuels provide a pathway for low-carbon fuels that can lower greenhouse gas emissions throughout the transportation... Read more →
Aircraft manufacturers designing “More Electric Aircraft” (MEA) are looking to convert the flight control systems from hydraulic to electric to reduce weight and design complexities. To meet the needs for an integrated and configurable power solution for aviation applications, Microchip Technology Inc. is introducing a new hybrid power drive module.... Read more →
ZeroAvia’s modified 19-seat Dornier 228 twin-engine aircraft took to the sky in testbed configuration for first flight as part of the HyFlyer II project. The airplane was retrofitted with a full-size prototype hydrogen-electric powertrain on the left wing of the aircraft. The flight took place from the company’s R&D facility... Read more →
NASA has issued an award to The Boeing Company for the agency’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, which seeks to inform a potential new generation of green single-aisle airliners. Under a Funded Space Act Agreement, Boeing will work with NASA to build, test, and fly a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW)... Read more →
Raven SR signed memoranda of understanding (MOU) to supply sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to All Nippon Airways (ANA) and to Japan Airlines (JAL) for major global routes. Each MOU provides for an initial 50,000 tons of SAF supply in the first year, 2025, with annual incremental increases to 200,000 tons... Read more →
Stellantis and Archer Aviation have agreed to expand their partnership by joining forces to manufacture Archer’s flagship electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, Midnight. Stellantis will work with Archer to stand up Archer’s recently announced manufacturing facility in Covington, Georgia at which the companies plan to begin manufacturing the... Read more →
Brazil’s National Development Bank (BNDES) will support Eve’s eVTOL development efforts (earlier post) with two distinct credit lines, totaling $92.5 million. Both credit lines are expected to offer beneficial terms and conditions to Eve with a 12-year maturity and amortization grace period. The financing is subject to the negotiation and... Read more →
Brussels Airlines, the flag carrier of Belgium and part of the Lufthansa Group, has started the new year by being the first airline receiving a delivery of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel at Brussels Airport for the first time using the NATO Central European Pipeline System (CEPS). The Central Europe... Read more →
The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has granted a permit to fly for ZeroAvia’s Dornier 228 aircraft, which has been retrofitted with its prototype hydrogen-electric powertrain. ZeroAvia secured the permit to fly following an extensive ground testing campaign and a rigorous review of the full development program. (Earlier post.) Ground... Read more →
LanzaTech announced that its DRAGON facility project (earlier post) has received a £25-million (~US$31-million) grant from the UK Department for Transport’s Advanced Fuels Fund Competition. LanzaTech’s Project DRAGON, which stands for Decarbonizing and Reimagining Aviation for the Goal Of Netzero, will convert waste gases into synthetic kerosene for use in... Read more →
Fulcrum BioEnergy, a clean energy company pioneering the creation of renewable, drop-in transportation fuels from landfill waste, successfully produced a low-carbon synthetic crude oil using landfill waste as a feedstock at its Sierra BioFuels Plant, the world’s first commercial-scale landfill waste-to-fuels plant. After more than a decade of dedication and... Read more →
Rolls-Royce has completed building and is preparing to test its UltraFan technology demonstrator. (Earlier post.) The demonstrator engine was transported from the build workshop and into Testbed 80 in Derby, UK where it was mounted in preparation for testing. The first test of the demonstrator is expected to take place... Read more →
Rolls-Royce and Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. conducted the first original equipment manufacturer test flight of an ultralong-range business jet powered by 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). The test took place on the BR725-powered Gulfstream G650 twin-jet over Gulfstream’s headquarters in Savannah, Georgia. Demonstrating that current Rolls-Royce engines for business jet and... Read more →
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has granted Lufthansa Technik a so-called Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) that officially paves the way for the series modification of two Boeing 777 variants with the fuel-saving AeroSHARK riblet films. (Earlier post.) Through the STC, the subfleet-wide roll-out of this sustainability technology, developed... Read more →
Customcells, a Germany-based battery developer, has closed a €60-million Series A funding round. Europe’s leading climate-tech venture capitalist World Fund is a lead investor together with the Hamburg family office Abacon Capital. With the money, Customcells wants to expand its activities in the electrification of air traffic, intensify research and... Read more →
Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney have signed a joint agreement with Virginia Tech for pre-competitive research focused on the impact of environmental contaminants on aeroengine operation and testing. The four-year project will leverage Virginia Tech’s research and cross-discipline expertise on engine operation, instrumentation, and geosciences as well as the current... Read more →
Airbus is developing a hydrogen-powered fuel cell engine. The propulsion system is being considered as one of the potential solutions to equip its zero-emission aircraft that will enter service by 2035. Airbus will start ground and flight testing this fuel cell engine architecture onboard its ZEROe demonstrator aircraft towards the... Read more →
Airbus and Renault Group signed a research and development agreement which aims at enhancing transversalities and synergies to accelerate both companies’ electrification roadmaps, improving their respective range of products. This partnership will help Airbus mature technologies associated with future hybrid-electric aircraft. As part of this partnership, Airbus’ and Renault Group’s... Read more →
Rolls-Royce and easyJet report the world’s first run of a modern aero engine on hydrogen. The ground test was conducted on an early concept demonstrator using green hydrogen created by wind and tidal power. It marks a major step towards proving that hydrogen could be a zero carbon aviation fuel... Read more →
Neste and CIM, part of NOVEN Group in France, the leading independent French group of companies providing oil storage and supply services, are collaborating to enable the supply of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel into France. The collaboration enables fuel marketing companies to comply with the French mandate for sustainable... Read more →
Airbus is developing innovative cryogenic hydrogen storage tanks to support future aircraft fueled by liquid hydrogen. Liquid hydrogen needs to be stored at -253 °C. In its simplest terms, says Airbus, there are two main technologies that enable an aircraft to fly directly with hydrogen. You can power an engine... Read more →
Ampaire’s Eco Caravan, a nine-seat regional aircraft, made its first flight on a fully-integrated hybrid-electric propulsion system. Ampaire expects it to be the first electrified regional aircraft to enter commercial service (certification in 2024) and the first in a series of larger Ampaire hybrid-electric aircraft. (Earlier post.) The Eco Caravan... Read more →
Aviation H2 has commenced testing on a Swiwin SW170b-2448 turbine, using jet A fuel to develop the baseline data required to compare the engine’s performance once they convert it to a carbon-free fuel. With the initial trials complete, the company will start pulling apart the engine and designing the modifications,... Read more →
Archer Aviation publicly unveiled its production aircraft, Midnight, a pilot-plus-four-passenger eVTOL aircraft during its Open House event in Palo Alto, CA. Midnight is the evolution of Archer’s demonstrator eVTOL aircraft, Maker, which has validated its proprietary twelve-tilt-six configuration and key enabling technologies. Midnight is designed to be safe, sustainable, quiet... Read more →
Rolls-Royce has successfully entered the final phase of testing it’s ALECSys (Advanced Low Emissions Combustion System) demonstrator engine, this time at altitude. (Earlier post.) The demonstrator took to the skies attached to the Rolls-Royce Boeing 747 Flying Test Bed in Tucson, Arizona. The test program has included flights up to... Read more →
Archer Aviation and E-One Moli Energy Corp. (Molicel), a supplier of lithium-ion battery cells, entered into a memorandum of understanding for Molicel to manufacture and supply the battery cells for Archer’s production electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, Midnight. Archer is focused on building an aircraft tailored to the... Read more →
United Airlines Ventures (UAV) announced a strategic investment in NEXT Renewable Fuels (NEXT), which is permitting a flagship biofuel refinery in Port Westward, Oregon, with expected production beginning in 2026. NEXT is a Houston-based company developing the biorefinery which, at full production, could produce up to 50,000 barrels per day... Read more →
by Michael Sivak, Sivak Applied Research Travel by air plummeted at the start of the pandemic in early 2020 (as did travel by other modes of transportation). There has been, however, a gradual rebound since then. In terms of revenue passenger miles (for domestic flights) the lowest point was reached... Read more →
Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE: ACHR), a developer of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, and Garmin, a leading provider of aviation technologies and solutions, entered into an agreement for Garmin to supply the G3000 integrated flight deck for Midnight, Archer’s production aircraft. The G3000 system is the first touchscreen-controlled... Read more →
Hyundai Motor Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nusantara Capital City Authority (Indonesia: Otorita Ibu Kota Nusantara, OIKN) to work together to establish an advanced air mobility (AAM) ecosystem in Indonesia. The MoU was executed during the B20 summit in Indonesia. The MoU aims to introduce AAM... Read more →
11/14/2022 The selection of the site for its manufacturing facility represents a key next step as Archer works towards its goal of being first in the industry to bring up a high-capacity production facility. Archer plans to initially build out a 350,000 square-foot facility, capable of producing up to 650... Read more →
Archer Aviation and United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) announced their first airport-to-city-center route between United’s hub at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and New York City. The Downtown Manhattan Heliport, located just above Battery Park on Pier 6, has been confirmed as the first planned takeoff and landing site as part... Read more →
DG Fuels (DGF), a provider of cellulosic drop-in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), signed a multi-year SAF offtake agreement with Air France KLM for up to 60,408 metric tons (21 million gallons) per year from DGF’s initial plant to be located in Louisiana. The contract is expected to make Air France... Read more →
LiquidPiston announced a $9-million award from the US Army to design, build and demonstrate an advanced, heavy-fueled combustion engine that uses up to 30% less fuel than comparable gasoline-powered engines in the same power class and reduces size and weight by up to 10x over diesel engines with comparable power... Read more →
NASA’s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) mission is mapping the prevalence of key minerals in the planet’s dust-producing deserts—information that will advance our understanding of airborne dust’s effects on climate. But EMIT has demonstrated another capability: detecting the presence of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. In the data... Read more →
Ionblox (previously known as Zenlabs Energy, earlier post), a high-performance lithium-ion cell company, closed a $24-million Series B investment round with Lilium, developer of an all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) jet (earlier post); Applied Ventures, LLC; Catalus Capital, a multi-strategy private equity firm; and a global investment company. Ionblox... Read more →
American Airlines made a strategic equity investment in Universal Hydrogen Co., a company building a green hydrogen distribution and logistics network for aviation. (Earlier post.) This investment makes American the first US airline to make two direct investments focused on the development of both hydrogen-electric propulsion technology and the future... Read more →
Neste will supply the Air France-KLM Group with more than 1,000,000 tons (approximately 1.26 billion liters or 333 million gallons US) of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel™ over a period of 8 years starting in 2023. This SAF agreement is one of the largest of its kind in the aviation... Read more →
Rolls-Royce has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Alder Fuels, a process technology and project development company in the low-carbon transportation fuels industry (earlier post), to test Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) produced based on Alder Fuels’ proprietary greencrude technology (AGC). The testing, which will include flight tests on a... Read more →
BAE Systems and Supernal will partner to design and develop the flight control computer for Supernal’s electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) vehicle. In support of Supernal—an advanced air mobility company from Hyundai Motor Group (earlier post)—BAE Systems will help define the architecture of a lightweight, fly-by-wire system for its... Read more →
In continuation of their joint research for a next-generation small aircraft, as announced June last year, Yamaha Motor and ShinMaywa Industries, Ltd. conducted an early-stage test flight of a prototype small aircraft at the Fujikawa Gliding Field in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan on 21 September. The aircraft tested was an R&D... Read more →
Honeywell announced a new ethanol-to-jet fuel (ETJ) processing technology that allows producers to convert corn-based, cellulosic, or sugar-based ethanol into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Depending on the type of ethanol feedstock used, jet fuel produced from Honeywell’s ethanol-to-jet fuel process can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 80%... Read more →
Approaching an airport runway for landing entails reducing speed, extending flaps, speed brakes and much more—all with as little noise and fuel consumption as possible. Moreover, air traffic control restricts the approach profile, and weather conditions are sometimes only vaguely known. In short, in addition to wind and other factors,... Read more →
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed determination that emissions of lead from aircraft that operate on leaded fuel cause or contribute to air pollution that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health and welfare. Under the Clean Air Act, EPA reviews information on air pollutants and... Read more →