A computer rendering of Eviation's Alice electric commuter aircraft in flight.The challenge is to meet a goal set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations body based in Montreal, to make planes 2% more efficient per year and make the industry's growth be net carbon neutral by 2020, a goal that ICAO's most recent environmental report acknowledged won't be met.
Rolls-Royce and Airbus hope the hybrid plane, known as E-Fan, will be ready for maiden test flights by 2021, Newby said. The program is expected to serve regional airline flights, rather than long-haul jumbo planes, according to the partner companies. And it's not likely to be ready for commercial flights for years, allowing for engineering and testing before full deployment.
Fully-electrified planes at passenger scale are far away, and so far are being designed in the expectation of serving shorter-term flights with fewer passengers. Eviation's plane is designed to seat nine. Rolls' has a partnership with the Norwegian airline Wideroe to electrify its fleet of regional airplanes by 2030. Norway has a goal of carbon-free domestic air transport by 2030.
At Pratt & Whitney, the bigger short-term push is to build the market for the geared turbofan engine, which went on sale commercially in 2016. A more fuel-efficient conventional engine, it has enabled a 16% reduction in fuel consumption in Airbus A320s, the company said. The engine had a number of quality problems early on, which a company spokesman said Pratt & Whitney has resolved.
Rolls-Royce could donate food and water to Yemen and save starving children instead!
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