Pan American World Airways Clipper flight 100… …nears its destination It’s an industry that has changed the world… …and it’s now in crisis But is this aviation’s moment for a green reset? Covid has given an opportunity to build back green and faster The technology race is on There is absolutely opportunity for companies like us… …to change the world here But are the runners fit for purpose… ...and will sustainable air travel cost more? Val Miftakhov is the CEO of a company… …committed to sustainable aviation Of course it’s exciting, every time we are testing something new And today
he’s test-flying a plane… …that could potentially solve aviation’s biggest challenge This is the world’s largest hydrogen-electric aircraft… …flying right now We hope for us achieving all the performance… …that we expect to achieve His vision—to fly without polluting the skies Ok, let’s do it Ok, let’s do the max In this plane, hydrogen is being used in a fuel cell… …to run an electric motor… …producing zero-carbon emissions Honestly, the only by-product of a fuel-cell operation is water So water vapour gets out into the atmosphere… …and it’s pretty harmless Without decarbonising technologies like hydrogen… …aviation could be responsible
for 22%… …of the planet’s emissions by 2050 Because it can pack more energy into a smaller space… …hydrogen has recently overtaken electric batteries… …as the front-runner in the race for cleaner flying Within 15 years… …the manufacturing giant, Airbus… …plans to introduce planes that burn hydrogen in engines as fuel And the EU believes that by 2050… …hydrogen technologies could reduce… …the industry’s carbon emissions by up to 75% We actually looked early on at different ways… …to bring sustainability to aviation Hydrogen-electric is the most efficient… …and likely to be the lowest cost out of all But there
are plenty of obstacles to overcome… …before these hydrogen technologies… …are commercially viable For starters, installing the infrastructure… …to distribute and produce hydrogen will be very pricey… …at least $500bn by one estimate What’s more, hydrogen will need to be produced sustainably… …using renewable energy to split water molecules And on top of that, hydrogen packs less energy… …into a given volume than jet fuel… …so powering long-haul flights will mean… …extensive aircraft redesign So you need bigger tanks… …you need to change the shape of the aeroplane And then within the engine… …you need more sophisticated heat exchangers… …to
deal with the hydrogen coming through Airlines are fighting for the future of their industry The big problem for aviation… …is that green technologies cost a lot of money… …but there isn’t much to go around… …as the industry faces the worst economic crisis in its history… …and as environmental movements like “flight-shaming” are on the up Some in aviation are committed to greener skies It’s just they can’t do it on their own… …according to one of Britain’s leading figures… …on climate change and energy policy I think the good news… …is that the industry has really redoubled… …its
efforts to decarbonise I think we are seeing many examples of leadership But we may also need, you know, government support… …in an environment where covid-19 has very clearly… …hit the cashflows… …of the big incumbent players… …in a way which was not their fault Even with governments’ help… …it will take at least two decades… …before hydrogen-powered planes are ready for take-off To reduce emissions in the nearer term… …aviation needs other options And a front-runner has recently emerged Since July, the right engine of this Airbus A321… …has been powered by biofuel Sustainable fuels are made from synthetic
sources… …or biological ones such as crops, algae… …or even waste One of the great benefits… …of going down the sustainable-aviation-fuel… …the biofuel or the synthetic-jet-fuel route… …is that it’s a drop-in fuel… …so that what happens at the airport doesn’t change To pump up the flow of sustainable fuels… …experts say governments need to offer incentives to airlines That could mean rolling out taxes on dirty fuels… …and making airlines buy a certain proportion of cleaner ones We have this chicken-and-egg problem, as we call it… …of aviation companies who say… …we would love to buy sustainable-aviation fuel… …if
it was only 50% more expensive… …than conventional jet fuel But as long as it’s three times more expensive… …this is prohibitively expensive… …and you have people trying to develop… …a sustainable-aviation-fuel technologies… …who would say, we could get the price down… …if only we had certainty of really big orders… …by a particular date And there’s another way… …governments could speed up the shift to greener skies… …stumping up investment funds So that’s interesting Just ask the CEO… …who is trying to make hydrogen-powered planes take off He says the $3.3m his company received… …from the British government, has
been crucial He argues larger-scale investment from the state… …as well as the private sector… …is key to making green aviation viable It’s very hard to make… …the radically new technologies competitive commercially… …without government support right from the beginning… …especially when you’re in R&D phase… …especially in such a capital-intense industry as aviation Going green may be the biggest challenge… …the industry has ever faced It demands the right investment and policies… …to support a range of technologies And that might mean passengers need deeper pockets It may be that there is a slight air-ticket premium I think we
should simply pay it I think we should say this is what we have to pay… …in order to have zero-carbon flight I’m Simon Wright, industry editor at The Economist If you’d like to read more about the future of aviation… …click on the link opposite If you’d like to watch more… …of our Now & Next series… …click on the other link Thank you for watching… …and don’t forget to subscribe
