As NASA invites bids to build and fly its Sustainable Flight Demonstrator, technology editor Graham Warwick and senior editor Guy Norris hear how this aircraft will differ from the agency’s prior X-planes. They talked to Rich Wahls, NASA’s newly appointed Sustainable Flight National Partnership mission integration manager at the AIAA Aviation 2022 conference in Chicago.
It also amended the types of fuel that fall within the ambit of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and proposed a new fund to accelerate their introduction.
Although the aviation industry views carbon offsetting as a stop-gap measure to meet its target of net zero emissions by 2050, those mechanisms will remain firmly in place for the foreseeable future.
The partners in a project to convert the Cessna Caravan to electric propulsion have formed a new company to develop and offer battery-electric and hydrogen-electric powertrain retrofits for a range of turboprop commuter aircraft.
Europe’s airlines have given a mixed response to the European Council’s approval of reforms to the region’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), welcoming sustainable aviation fuel allowances but sounding the alarm over the early phaseout of free carbon allowances.
The facility at the Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Co. near Ningpo, Zhejiang Province, is designed to manufacture 100,000 metric tons of unblended biofuel annually, and the state-owned company says its refinery will pave the way toward large-scale production.
No fast lane is in sight for the introduction of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) in significant quantities, as producers still have to cope with complex processes and high costs, French oil giant TotalEnergies says.
Yet many of those companies are small- and medium-size businesses and finding the time and money is a serious hurdle for them, industry observers warn.
The European Parliament’s Transport Committee has approved legislation that includes a more ambitious sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandate than one originally proposed by the European Commission’s “Fit for 55” climate package.
IATA says SAF production needs to increase from roughly 100 million liters (26.4 million gal.) annually in 2021 to 449 billion liters (119 billion gal.) to meet the industry’s goal of net zero carbon emissions.
