The US Department of Energy (DOE) released the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge Roadmap outlining a government-wide strategy for scaling up new technologies to produce sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) across the US airline industry. The Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge is a US government-wide approach to work with industry... Read more →

Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Washington State University have developed a a process by which lignin can be selectively converted to jet-range aromatics at unprecedented carbon yields, providing a path toward a 100% drop-in sustainable aviation... Read more →

LiquidPiston announced a $1.7-million Phase II award from the US Army to continue the development of the company’s Hybrid Electric X-Engine (HEXE) propulsion system. (Earlier post.) The Phase II award is a result of successful completion of a Phase I xTechSearch Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award previously announced. LiquidPiston’s... Read more →

Aemetis, Inc., a renewable fuels company focused on negative carbon intensity products, announced that $7 billion of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel (RD) supply agreements have been signed with 10 airlines for a total of 916 million gallons of blended SAF. Previously, Aemetis announced a contract with a... Read more →

Enviva, the leading producer of sustainably sourced woody biomass, and Alder Fuels, a clean tech developer and greencrude producer, signed a contract for the long-term, large-scale supply of woody biomass from Enviva, which sources low-value fiber, such as forest byproducts such as tree tops, limbs, and commercial thinnings, to commercialize... Read more →

ETH Zurich spin-off Synhelion has started the construction of DAWN—its own industrial plant to produce synthetic fuels using solar heat. (Earlier post.) Located in Jülich, Germany, the facility will demonstrate the entire process from concentrating sunlight to producing synthetic liquid fuel on an industrial scale. The production process—using only solar... Read more →

Avfuel Corporation, via Avfuel Technology Initiatives Corporation (ATIC), will collaborate with General Aviation Modifications, Inc., (GAMI), on the commercialization of the engineering company’s high-octane unleaded avgas, G100UL. On 1 September, GAMI received a functional fleet-wide approval from the FAA for G100UL avgas via the long-standing STC process, fulfilling a key... Read more →

The California legislature has passed AB 1322 (R. Rivas); the bill requires the California Air Resources Board to develop an incentives-based plan to promote the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and other alternatives to jet fuel to reduce the impact of commercial aviation on climate change. Specifically, this bill... Read more →

MintAir Co. Ltd. signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with Jaunt Air Mobility LLC to form a strategic partnership and to purchase Jaunt Journey electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. MintAir has agreed to order up to 40 of Jaunt's aircraft to bring air mobility services to the Korean... Read more →

New Zealand-based Fabrum, a leader in zero-emissions transition and fluid systems engineering company Filton Systems Engineering (FSE) have joined forces with GKN Aerospace to help shift aviation towards hydrogen flight with end-to-end hydrogen fuel system technology. GKN Aerospace is the world’s leading multi-technology tier 1 aerospace supplier; with 38 manufacturing... Read more →

Quantum computing company IonQ will collaborate with Airbus to explore the potential application and benefits of quantum computing for aerospace services and passenger experiences. The Quantum Aircraft Loading Optimization & Quantum Machine Learning project will be a 12-month project that culminates in the development of a prototype aircraft-loading quantum application,... Read more →

Joby Aviation, a California-based company developing electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, announced an expansion of its existing contract with the US Air Force’s Agility Prime program that increases the contract’s potential value by more than $45 million. Agility Prime, launched in April 2020, is the Air Force’s collaborative... Read more →

Archer Aviation has received a $10-million pre-delivery payment from United Airlines for 100 of the company’s initial production eVTOL aircraft. United is making the deposit on 100 of Archer’s production aircraft which it agreed to purchase in 2021. Archer recently completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for its production aircraft—now... Read more →

American Airlines announced an investment in ZeroAvia, a developer of hydrogen-electric aviation. (Earlier post.) In addition to the investment, a memorandum of understanding provides American the opportunity to order up to 100 engines from ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric powertrain development program. The engines are intended to power regional jet aircraft with zero... Read more →

Representatives of Shell International Petroleum and Deutsche Lufthansa AG (Lufthansa Group) have signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for exploring the supply of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) by Shell to the Lufthansa Group for seven years at airports across the globe, starting in 2024. The parties contemplate negotiating towards... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group presented the HMG Smart City master model at the 2022 World Cities Summit in Singapore. The model represents the Group’s vision for smart cities and illustrates how it will empower them with sustainable and smart mobility solutions. The model will serve as a guideline for developing smart... Read more →

Archer Aviation successfully completed all of its “critical azimuth” flight tests, marking the completion of the second of three key phases of flight testing. The purpose of these tests are to validate the crosswind capabilities of Archer’s eVTOL aircraft configuration and flight control systems. The company has now successfully flown... Read more →

Skyports Infrastructure, an Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) infrastructure developer, and AirAsia’s Advanced Air Mobility, a dedicated unit of AirAsia Aviation Group Limited (the aviation arm of Capital A), have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to explore the development of air taxi infrastructure in Malaysia. The partnership between AAM industry... Read more →

Volkswagen Group China unveiled its first electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) passenger drone prototype, as part of its strategy to explore and break new ground in fully electric and sustainable individual mobility concepts. In 2020, Volkswagen Group China launched a Vertical Mobility project to explore the next generation of... Read more →

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, which supplied essential products for NASA’s Apollo program, including the Apollo 11 mission which landed on the moon 53 years ago, will continue that tradition—focusing on lunar vehicle tires—by joining Lockheed Martin in its development of a lunar mobility vehicle in partnership with General... Read more →

Hyundai and Kia signed joint research agreements with six Korean research institutes and formed a consultative body to develop mobility solutions to explore the surface of the moon. The announcement follows Korea’s successful launch of a domestically produced rocket in June. We have taken the first step towards transforming our... Read more →

Through continued development of its next-generation lithium-metal cell technology, Cuberg has achieved a near-doubling of cycle life of its cells alongside improvement in energy and power. Testing of 5 Ah pouch cells by an independent third party confirmed that cycle life has been extended from 370 to 672 cycles with... Read more →

The UK Government set out its Jet Zero strategy. Launched at Farnborough International Airshow, the strategy commits UK domestic aviation to achieving net zero emissions by 2040, and for all airports in England to be zero-emission by the same year. It also includes a plan for the industry to stay... Read more →

Gevo announced a new fuel sales agreement with American Airlines for the sale of 100 million gallons per year of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for five years from Gevo’s future commercial operations. Gevo’s delivery of SAF under this agreement is expected to begin in 2026. Gevo estimates that the agreement... Read more →

Airbus UpNext, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Airbus, has revealed a flight test program to study the contrails produced by a hydrogen combustion engine as part the Company’s ZEROe roadmap. The project, named “Blue Condor”, will launch two modified Arcus-J gliders, one equipped with a hydrogen combustion engine and one equipped... Read more →

The open fan architecture is a key component of aero engine maker CFM International’s “Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines” (RISE) technology development program (earlier post), which aims to demonstrate and mature a range of new technologies for future engines that could enter service by the mid-2030s. Open fan technology will... Read more →

Researchers in Europe led by a team from ETH Zurich have designed a fuel production system that uses water, CO2, and sunlight to produce aviation fuel. The team implemented the system at pilot-scale in the field to demonstrate the technical feasibility of the entire sun-to-liquid fuel process chain, from H2O... Read more →

easyJet and Rolls-Royce are partnering to develop hydrogen combustion engine technology capable of powering a range of aircraft, including those in the narrow-body market segment. Both companies have committed to working together on a series of engine tests on the ground, starting later this year and have a shared ambition... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group and Safran, the world’s second-largest aircraft equipment manufacturer, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore and identify possible opportunities in Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) industry that would be beneficial to both parties and potential customers. The Group and Safran agreed to explore potential cooperation in various... Read more →

Airbus and a number of major airlines—Air Canada, Air France-KLM, easyJet, International Airlines Group, LATAM Airlines Group, Lufthansa Group and Virgin Atlantic—have signed Letters of Intent (LoI) to explore opportunities for a future supply of carbon removal credits from direct air carbon capture technology. Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage... Read more →

Sensata Technologies has developed a new fly-by-wire inceptor (sidesticks or centersticks used to direct and maneuver aircraft) for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and has provided prototypes to several advanced air mobility manufacturers. A passive inceptor is a cockpit control device through which pilot inputs are collected and... Read more →

Supernal revealed its initial eVTOL vehicle cabin concept at Farnborough International Airshow, providing the first look at how Hyundai Motor Group is integrating automotive capabilities to develop the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) market. Supernal partnered with the Group’s design studios to create the cabin concept as the company works to... Read more →

Rolls-Royce and Hyundai Motor Group plan to collaborate on bringing all-electric propulsion and hydrogen fuel cell technology to the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) market. The partnership will leverage Rolls-Royce’s aviation and certification capabilities and Hyundai Motor Group’s hydrogen fuel cell technologies and industrialization capability. Both companies share a vision of... Read more →

In partnership with NASA, NREL is modeling scenarios that could play out with electrified and regional air transit. The project includes evaluating how smaller airports could supply clean power to both the aircraft and the region. A map of airports in the contiguous United States, of which only 30 service... Read more →

Rolls-Royce is launching a new leading-edge hydrogen program and also given a further update on its research into hybrid-electric power as it continues to pioneer new forms of aviation sustainability. Rolls-Royce is planning a comprehensive series of rig and engine tests to prove hydrogen can safely and efficiently deliver power... Read more →

Ricardo has signed a multi-year deal with Pratt & Whitney Canada under which the Ricardo aerospace engineering team will support Pratt & Whitney Canada in the development of advanced hybrid-electric propulsion technologies for next-generation aircraft. The project is part of Pratt & Whitney Canada’s regional hybrid-electric flight demonstrator program. The... Read more →

Carbon transformation company Twelve, Alaska Air Group, and Microsoft have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on advancing the market for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) to include fuels derived from recaptured CO2 and renewable energy, and working toward the first commercial demonstration flight in the United States powered... Read more →

The EU is investing more than €1.8 billion in 17 large-scale innovative clean-tech projects with a third round of awards under the Innovation Fund. Grants will be disbursed from the Innovation Fund to help bring technologies to the market in energy-intensive industries, hydrogen, renewable energy, carbon capture and storage infrastructure,... Read more →

Honeywell announced that Turkish refiner Tüpraş will license Honeywell UOP Ecofining technology to produce biofuels from feedstocks such as used cooking oil and waste animal fat at their refinery in Izmir, Türkiye. The new Ecofining plant is being designed to convert approximately 8,300 barrels per day of waste feeds/feedstocks to... Read more →

Evolito, a privately-owned company designing and manufacturing electric motors and controllers for aerospace applications, has acquired the business and assets of aerospace battery solutions company '. Evolito was spun-out last year from YASA; YASA is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz. Evolito supplies high-performance, low-weight axial-flux motors and controllers... Read more →

Under a new partnership, members of Fly Victor, the on-demand private jet company, can purchase Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) for every private jet booking globally. This enables private jet charterers to reduce the carbon footprint of their private air travel in a credible and measurable way. Victor’s private... Read more →

Neste Corporation has made the final investment decision to invest into new renewable products production capacity in Rotterdam. The decision is based on demand for renewable products growing substantially with customers’ higher climate ambitions. Rotterdam NExBTL plant Neste’s current 1.4 million ton capacity for renewable products in Rotterdam is the... Read more →

Airbus and Linde, a leading global industrial gases and engineering company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work on the development of hydrogen infrastructure at airports worldwide. The agreement follows a cooperation agreement signed in Singapore in February and covers collaboration on global supply chains for hydrogen, from... Read more →

Airbus and Munich Airport International signed a Memorandum of Understanding at ILA Berlin Air Show to start marketing turnkey solutions to cities and regions interested in developing advanced air mobility (AAM) ecosystems globally. Airbus is developing CityAirbus NextGen, its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft (earlier post), along with... Read more →

A study by a team of researchers from the US, Germany and Canada has found that sustainable aviation jet fuels show up to a 70% reduction in particle mass emission compared to a fossil fuel. The study, which summarizes the results from a ground-based measurement activity conducted in January 2018... Read more →

The Qantas Group and Airbus recently announced they will invest up to US$200 million to accelerate the establishment of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industry in Australia. Due to the lack of a local commercial-scale SAF industry, Australia is currently exporting millions of tonnes of feedstock such as canola and... Read more →

The rapidly growing space industry may have a greater climate effect than the aviation industry and undo repair to the protective ozone layer if left unregulated, according to a new study led by UCL and published in the journal Earth’s Future as an open-access paper. The space industry is one... Read more →

Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation (Toshiba ESS) has developed a prototype superconducting motor to meet the needs of the mobility sector. This superconducting motor, with a maximum output of 2 MW, can realize lightweight, high-output density and high-speed rotation, and can be made available for large mobility applications. Toshiba... Read more →

Rolls-Royce is developing turbogenerator technology—including a new small engine—designed for hybrid-electric aviation applications. The system will be an on-board power source with scalable power offerings and will complement the Rolls-Royce Electrical propulsion portfolio, enabling extended range on sustainable aviation fuels and later as it comes available through hydrogen combustion. Current... Read more →

Regional aircraft manufacturer ATR, Swedish airline Braathens Regional Airlines and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supplier Neste collaborated to enable the first 100% SAF-powered test flight on a commercial regional aircraft. When used in neat form, Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions over its life cycle by up... Read more →