Toulouse When it comes to climate protection, the aviation industry is more on the defensive than almost any other industry. Airbus boss Guillaume Faury knows that. The fight against climate change must go faster, admitted Faury on Wednesday at the company headquarters in Blagnac in the south of France: “We have to move from the phase of understanding the problem to defining and implementing the plans.”
But can an industry like aviation even succeed in this? After all, the sector is responsible for 2.8 percent of global emissions. In the debate about more climate protection in air traffic, Airbus has to fear bans or higher taxes – and ultimately a slump in sales.
At a “summit of sustainable aviation”, the European aircraft manufacturer is now trying for two days to present possible solutions to the climate problem – such as electrically powered helicopters and more efficient flight routes. The goal of bringing an aircraft powered by green hydrogen onto the market by 2035 is particularly confident. The aviation sector could also become climate-neutral by 2050, is the message from Airbus – not least thanks to hydrogen.
In fact, it’s a risky bet. There are many question marks behind the project. It is still unclear how much hydrogen aircraft in particular can actually contribute to the goal of climate-neutral aviation.
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Faury also emphasizes that, of course, you don’t put everything on the hydrogen card. The CEO speaks of a mix of solutions. But unlike its big US competitor Boeing, Airbus has at least clearly positioned itself and linked its green agenda with hydrogen technology.
Experts see some risks in this. “You can still think about hydrogen in a national or European context,” says Martin Wietschel from the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research. But the energy density of hydrogen is not sufficient for long-haul flights. “There are simply limits to these solutions. I don’t see how one should get over it. “
More than half of the CO2 emissions on long-haul routes
Gerald Wissel from the consulting firm Airborne Consulting even doubts that there will be viable concepts even on medium-haul routes by 2035. “According to all that we have in terms of knowledge, synthetic fuels are the only means of quickly doing something to protect the climate in aviation.” For example, fuels based on biomass, which are more environmentally friendly but not climate neutral. Wissel speaks of a “gigantic challenge” for Airbus, in which there are still “many question marks”.
The industry expert says that the actual contribution to climate protection will be small, even if in 15 years the first airlines will transport their passengers with hydrogen planes. Initially, the technology is likely to be used only on short-haul flights with small planes. In this segment, however, only a very small proportion of emissions are generated in air traffic. More than half of the CO2 emissions are caused by long-haul flights.
So far, emission-free flying has only been a vision for Airbus.
(Photo: Airbus)
Even on medium-haul routes, which Airbus is serving with its most successful models such as the A320, hydrogen propulsion is not very realistic in the next two to three decades. “Basically, the ecological impact is very low,” says Wissel. With a view to the 2035 target, he also reminds us that the development of new aircraft models usually takes longer than planned – Airbus recently learned this when the giant A380 was delayed.
At Airbus, on the other hand, they are optimistic. “It is very realistic to believe that hydrogen planes will be used,” says Faury. The technology is known and is already being used in space travel, for example. Faury compares the doubts about hydrogen with the skepticism that a few decades ago faced electronic aircraft controls, which have now replaced manual flying.
Climate-neutral hydrogen could remain too scarce
However, the Airbus boss also limits: Initially, only regional planes with hydrogen in the tank could take off. On the long-haul route, the solution will be in synthetic fuels for a “very long time”. In addition, Airbus depends on the airports to set up the necessary infrastructure to store the new fuel and refuel the machines.
Experts also warn that climate-neutral hydrogen will remain in short supply for the foreseeable future. “There are challenges that we have to be aware of,” said Timur Gül from the International Energy Agency (IEA) at the conference in Blagnac.
Airbus has been researching a hydrogen-powered aircraft for a long time, but has only been pushing the project for a few years. In September 2020, Airbus publicly presented the plans. After an evaluation phase, Airbus intends to decide by 2025 at the latest whether the multi-billion dollar development of a series aircraft can begin and which technology elements will be used. A first prototype in real size will then be available at the end of the decade, and line operation will start in 2035.
The commitment to hydrogen could also have something to do with the fact that the group benefits from government subsidies in this area. In any case, Faury reported on the expectation of governments to be able to tell the public in return for investment support what the money will be used for.
According to Andrew Murphy, aviation expert for the European environmental organization Transport & Environment, the climate targets in the aviation sector can only be achieved with stricter government guidelines. If the industry wants to solve the problem with technology, it has to hurry up. Murphy proposes a ban on the sale of fossil-fuel aircraft from 2035.
Faury replies: “We don’t have to stop selling new aircraft, we have to accelerate the sale of new aircraft.” The lower fuel consumption of the new models already leads to a “significant reduction in emissions”. In addition, the Airbus boss sees the entire industry as responsible for the research and development of technologies such as hydrogen propulsion. Because if the aviation industry does not show that it can make its contribution to climate protection, “there will be no other solution than to reduce demand”.
Collaboration: Catiana Krapp
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