If the aviation industry sets itself such a goal, then, according to Solovyov, we should not wait long for transatlantic flights with electric-powered aircraft: “Someone must conceptualize this project and invest in development. Lockheed Martin had such a prototype goal. among the leaders in the aeronautical sector, working mainly on innovations aimed at military needs. For example, they developed the F-16 and F-18 fighters in collaboration with “McDonnell Douglas”. Often the patents of these companies are bought by aircraft manufacturers civilians, for example “Boeing”. I think that if Lockheed Martin or a similar company gets funding, in five or seven years, if not sooner, the issue of transatlantic flights with electricity can be solved.”
Atom: Will new technologies allow it to be “tamed” in aviation?
There is another potential source of power for electric planes, but its use could lead to public outcry. “It looks like something out of ‘Fallout’ (a video game set in a post-apocalyptic world after a global nuclear war – ed), but why not use nuclear reactors on an airplane? I see no obstacle with all the safety protocols in place. I think that this is the future,” says Solovyov. An aviation expert says a small nuclear reactor can run continuously for months. Earth has sufficient reserves of uranium and plutonium for use in nuclear reactors.
By the way, engineers were already looking in this direction more than half a century ago. Two types of nuclear-powered aircraft were developed in the 1960s, but the projects were abandoned. Easier ways have been found to extend the time spent in the air (in-flight refueling) and to deliver nuclear warheads to their destination (ICBMs).
One major problem was protecting the crew from radiation: the shielding panels were too thick and heavy. It should be remembered here that modern scientists are developing fairly light composite materials that block radioactive radiation well. In the early 2000s, US funded research that looked into the feasibility of building nuclear-powered unmanned military aircraft. This would eliminate the crew protection issue. However, as far as we know, the project remained only “on paper”. A second problem identified in the 1960s was radioactive emissions from aircraft in flight. But perhaps this problem can be solved now, taking into account the development of technology. The third obstacle was the risk of a plane crash: if a plane with a nuclear reactor on board crashes, the consequences can be more devastating than if a plane powered by fossil fuels crashes. It is not yet clear how science can solve the problem of potential disaster.
Hydrogen: Great if safety protocols are followed
Another type of fuel that the aviation industry would like to replace kerosene with is hydrogen. When burning liquid or gaseous hydrogen, CO2 there are no emissions, although emissions of other greenhouse gases – nitrogen oxides – remain. If hydrogen is used in electrochemical fuel cells, there are no emissions, but in fact it is already an electric transport.
Experiments with hydrogen-powered aircraft didn’t begin until yesterday. In 1957, the United States launched the first experimental aircraft in which one of the engines was fueled by hydrogen. Today there are many projects where researchers are developing aircraft using both liquid and gaseous hydrogen.
According to Solovyov, the use of liquid hydrogen has several advantages. First, it is very energy intensive, even compared to kerosene, not to mention currently available electric batteries. Second, modern aircraft jet engines can be adapted to burn hydrogen. Thirdly, says the APAC training lead: “There is an abundance of hydrogen in our universe, it can be considered a renewable resource. And separating hydrogen from water is a fairly trivial task. So, this is a very promising for aviation”.
The main disadvantage is that in combination with oxygen, hydrogen is a highly explosive mixture. As a result, the security challenges are already on another level. The episode that ended the era of aeronautics also involved the dangers of hydrogen. In 1937, the German airship “Hindenburg” caught fire after a transatlantic flight to the United States. 36 people died: 35 passengers and crew members of the airship, as well as one person on the ground.
“To use hydrogen, all safety requirements must be defined very clearly. Criteria for the safety of aircraft refueling, storage and transportation must be provided,” Solovyov emphasizes. “If we solve all these problems to keep the hydrogen from combining with oxygen outside of where it should be, then everything will be fine.”
Apparently Airbus has the same considerations, pinning its long-term hopes on hydrogen. Experiments with hybrid (kerosene/electric) aircraft do not satisfy the company and change the direction of research. Airbus plans to reduce CO2 emissions in the coming years2 emissions using greener fuels. But by 2035, the company promises to launch the first hydrogen-powered zero-emission aircraft. “Airbus” predicts that by then airports around the world will have installed infrastructure for the use of liquid hydrogen. In addition, global industry needs to scale up the production of “green hydrogen”. Until now, the dominant manufacturing methods are those that emit too much carbon dioxide in the process.
Sustainable aviation fuel is gradually entering the market
In anticipation of a technological revolution that will completely eliminate the need for kerosene, aviation is looking for other ways to go “greener.” Mostly they try to achieve this by using sustainable aviation fuel (Sustainable Aviation Fuel – SAF) which is produced in a more environmentally friendly way. There are many types and manufacturing technologies of SAF, but many of them are still under development. Among them, the industry is looking for ways to produce SAF on a much larger scale than can be done today. Plus, SAF is also more expensive than kerosene, so airlines are in no hurry to ramp up their purchases. The sustainable development scenario developed by the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that by 2030 biofuel will make up just 10% of the aviation fuel used worldwide, and by 2040 20%. At the same time, new legislation is currently under discussion in the European Parliament, according to which by 2025 fuel suppliers will have to add at least 2% SAF to aviation kerosene, and by 2050 this percentage should gradually increase to 85%.
A revolution in air traffic control
Another path to “greener” aviation is the development of a new generation of effective air traffic control (ATC) tools. “Most of the fuel is burned in the so-called vector and landing diagrams of the aircraft. If you look at the Flightradar website or remember your recent flight, you will realize that very often planes circle the airport before landing. If we can organize a direct landing for the planes so that they land one after another in a straight line, it would save us a huge amount of aviation fuel,” explains Solovyov. As an example, he mentions the distance between Stockholm and Riga. In a straight line, it’s less than 450 kilometers, or about 23-25 minutes of flight. But the flight “airBaltic” from our capital to the Swedish capital takes 48 minutes. More than half of the flight time is spent vectoring, entering the line of aircraft about to land. This is necessary because airspace is busy these days and so are air traffic controllers. Vectoring schemes give controllers more time to make confident decisions and successfully operate all aircraft.
The first step in optimizing this process with the help of technology is to equip aircraft with transponders that operate in ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast) mode. In the European Union, according to Solovyov, their use is already mandatory. Technology B is intended to radically improve communication between pilots and air traffic controllers in the future. The standard allows air traffic participants to automatically exchange a large amount of information and improves flight safety. “I believe that the implementation of ADS-B is an important step towards optimizing air traffic. With the help of this technology, aviation will collect huge amounts of data, after which specialists will add big data analysis systems, the collected data will be “shown” to computer neural networks, which, in turn, will be able to offer new air traffic algorithms ”, predicts the head of APAC training.
