TECHNOLOGY TAKES OFF CAN THE UK’S AEROSPACE SECTOR CUT CARBON EMISSIONS?

UK aviation can grow AND meet its commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, says industry

By Nicky Godding, Editor

The UK’s aerospace sector is a major economic driver for the country and a priority sector for the government. But with the climate change debate raging, should we be jumping on planes as much?

According to research conducted a couple of years ago by the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s RAL Space in Oxfordshire, aviation has contributed approximately four per cent to global warming to date, despite being responsible for only 2.4 per cent of global annual emissions of CO2. And the number of flights we take has increased dramatically in recent decades.

The Civil Aviation Authority revealed that 31.4 million passengers flew in and out of the UK between January and March last year on 292,764 flights.

While this represented a 42 per cent fall in passengers compared to the same period in 2019, before the pandemic, globally passenger traffic is forecast to reach 8.4 billion passengers by the end of this year says IATA, the International Air Transport Association.

The UK’s aerospace industry is also recovering. According to figures published in May by the UK’s trade association for aerospace, defence and space companies, ADS Group, our aerospace sector employs 108,000 people in the UK and supports 5,200 apprentices. Collective business turnover in the industry is now £27 billion with exports accounting for a healthy proportion of the turnover at £18.6 billion.

Can we reduce aviation’s CO2 emissions?

Reducing aviation’s CO2 emissions by introducing bio or synthetic fuels is a start. Carbon emissions will be partially compensated for during the growth of plants used to develop the fuels, or in the extraction of CO2 from the air for the production of synthetic fuels, if renewable energy is used.

The government sees it as a priority sector and companies and entrepreneurs are investing billions of pounds into innovations which will cut carbon emissions to meet the UK’s net zero commitments.

Sustainable Aviation is a collective of major UK airlines, airports, manufacturers, air navigation service providers and others aiming to bring down aerospace emissions. It says that UK aviation can continue to grow while meeting its commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, thanks to advances in sustainable aviation technology already delivered in the UK which will accelerate the industry’s transition to net zero around the world.

The UK is a global leader in sustainable aviation technology, but the industry warns this opportunity is at risk without government support and is calling for an industry-funded price support mechanism to help secure private investment in UK sustainable aviation fuel plants.

A hotbed of aviation innovation

The UK is a hotbed of aviation innovation and has already delivered world firsts. Last November the RAF worked with industry to fly an RAF Voyager military transporter aircraft on 100 per cent sustainable aviation fuel, and in January this year Gloucestershirebased Zeroavia conducted the first successful UK flight of a 19-seater Dornier 228 with one of the two engines running on hydrogen fuel cells.

Later this year, the world’s first net zero transatlantic flight will take off from London to New York – using solely sustainable aviation fuel.

Matt Gorman, Chair at Sustainable Aviation, said: “This is the critical decade where aviation must prove it will decarbonise. Our updated Net Zero Carbon Road Map shows that we have a credible path to take the carbon out of flying. Through a combination of Sustainable Aviation Fuel, more efficient aircraft and airspace, zero emission planes and carbon removals, we can protect the huge benefits of aviation for future generations without the carbon cost.

“But we’ll do it faster, and create more UK jobs and investment with the right policies, working with government.

“The US and Europe are surging forwards in the race to create new sustainable aviation fuels and technology. The UK has all the natural advantages to join them – but we need to move quickly.”

There is a collective industry voice to get the message across. The West of England Aerospace Forum is one of the largest aerospace and advanced engineering clusters in Europe and more than half of the 300 or so members of the Midlands Aerospace Alliance make flying parts, 40 per cent make equipment for design, testing, manufacturing or provide specialist services.

eVTOL hub trialled in Coventry

Another way of reducing emissions from aviation is by letting drones do some of the work previously carried out by piloted planes.

The agriculture industry uses drones for imagery, data analysis and, in some cases, spraying.

Construction, real estate, search and rescue, energy and utilities and other industries are also increasingly turning to unmanned aerial vehicles, because they’re more efficient, and cost-effective.

Last April, Urban-Air Port, a developer of ground infrastructure for air taxis and autonomous delivery drones, opened “AirOne” in Coventry, a month-long world-first demonstration of a fully-operational hub for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles – such as air taxis – and autonomous cargo drones.

Urban-Air Port’s mission is to remove the largest single constraint to sustainable air mobility – ground infrastructure – to create a zero-emission-mobility ecosystem that will cut congestion and air pollution from passenger and cargo transport.

Urban-Air Port wants to deliver more than 200 vertiports across the world in the next five years, but has not shared any information on where and when these will be built.

The South West and West Midlands are rich in aerospace manufacturing expertise

Some of the leading global aerospace companies are based in the West of England and West Midlands, including Airbus, GKN Aerospace, BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Leonardo Group and Boeing in Bristol, Dowty Propellers and Safran in Gloucester and Meggitt in Coventry, which was bought by the USA-based Parker Hannafin last year.

Airbus’s sites at Filton and Broughton design, test and manufacture the wings for all Airbus’ A320 family, A330 and A350 commercial aircraft, sustaining more than 8,000 full-time jobs and hundreds of apprenticeships.

GKN Aerospace at Filton near Bristol designs and manufactures structural assemblies, metallic components and systems.

Rolls-Royce has its composite technology hub in Bristol developing fan blades and fan cases to significantly reduce weight in a jet engine, lowering fuel consumption and emissions while its Control Systems division is based near Birmingham.

Boeing Defence UK, closely located to MOD Abbey Wood in Bristol, plays a key role in the significant defence aviation ecosystem that exists in the South West.

The Midlands is home to more than a quarter of the UK’s aerospace industry, with more than 45,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

Last year Meggitt opened its new Ansty Park site at Coventry, bringing together its operations within a world-class aerospace engineering and technology facility.

In May, Moog Aerospace has completed the development of its new £40 million factory at Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire which it will move into later this year.

All these aerospace superstars are supported by hundreds of businesses in the aerospace supply chain employing thousands of people.