At the Le Bourget Air Show in Paris, one major order follows the next. But the aircraft manufacturers are in a dilemma: by 2050, flying should be climate-neutral. There are many unanswered questions.
The huge A380 is completely gutted in a remote Airbus hangar near Toulouse. Cableways run through what was once a passenger cabin. A test station with numerous monitors and levers in the middle of the aircraft gives only a hint that research into the future is being carried out here. On the future of the hydrogen-powered plane.
The first test flights are scheduled to take place in three years. “One challenge is the cold chain,” explains Airbus engineer Mathias Andriamisaina. “Between the truck, the fuel station and the hydrogen reservoirs in the aircraft, the temperature must not drop so that the hydrogen remains cryogenic, i.e. cryogenically liquefied. We have to build the tanks accordingly.”
Industry relies on biofuels in the medium term
In a way, hydrogen is the long-haul project of the German-French aircraft manufacturer Airbus. Aviation experts estimate that it will be another 30 years before hydrogen-powered planes can actually carry passengers. The medium-haul project is therefore bio-fuels. And they’re the talk of the town at the aerospace show in Le Bourget.
Airbus Technik boss Sabine Klauke hopes that with them, the consumption of climate-damaging kerosene can soon be significantly reduced. “We use less than one percent of sustainable aviation fuels worldwide. Of course, that also has something to do with the price.” But the technologies are there, emphasizes Klauke.
Production facility planned in southern France
There would now have to be incentives to convert so that they would be cheaper and thus used more. “All airlines have already agreed to add more than five percent of these biofuels by 2030, and we are already doing up to ten percent in our own fleets,” says the head of technology. “But it’s really a chicken-and-egg problem – we have to start industrially now.”
A production site for sustainable fuels is to be built in the south of France near Pau. President Emmanuel Macron announced this last week. Between 2024 and 2030, his government wants to invest 300 million euros annually. The goal: The Europeans should become the champions in the construction of fuel-efficient aircraft. Because the competition never sleeps: The US aircraft manufacturer Boeing is also researching a more climate-friendly aircraft that is intended to reduce emissions by 30 percent.
mega numbers and megachallenges
However, aviation experts such as Jerome Bouchard from the consulting firm Oliver Wyman criticize that investments, especially in sustainable fuels – known as SAF – are still far too low: “According to our calculations, we will need around 450 million tons of these sustainable fuels in 2050.” In order to achieve this, 900 billion euros would have to be invested over the next 30 years. “So far, just 10 billion have been invested,” says the expert
Mega numbers, mega challenges and a mega business: Although aviation is demonstrably harmful to the environment, the industry is growing rapidly. In 20 years, around twice as many planes will be on the road as there are today – at least that’s the forecast.