Step changes in efficiency | Rolls-Royce

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We develop and deliver complex power and propulsion solutions.

For more than 100 years we have been at the forefront of innovation. Helping to power, protect and connect the modern world.

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Create your future with us

Help us deliver better power for our changing world.

We develop and deliver complex power and propulsion solutions for safety-critical applications in the air, at sea and on land.

Our products and service packages enable our customers to connect people, societies, cultures and economies together.

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Doing more with less

We have a fundamental role in meeting the environmental and societal opportunities and challenges that the world faces.

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Innovation

Decarbonising complex critical systems

Efficiency gains

Evolution and revolution to reach net zero

WATCH

Lowering emissions is our business

Our relentless efforts to advance technologies have long helped reduce emissions

CO₂ emissions per passenger kilometre are around 80% lower than those of the first commercial jets in the 1960s. Billions of tonnes of emissions generated by the growth in demand for air travel have been eliminated through technological innovation. We have played major roles in these advances through our continuous work to meet the demands of our customers for long-lasting, fuel-efficient products.

An efficient path to a greener flight

Both disruptive technologies and efficiency gains will be key to reaching net zero.

We are aiming to further reduce emissions by up to 30% by making our products more efficient, enabling our customers to reduce their environmental impacts. We estimate more efficiency can be gained from gas turbine technology, which will be in use in both large and hybrid-electric aircraft for many years. A further fuel burn cut of up to 5% is possible through greater use of electric systems such as electrical starter generators.

On land and sea

Efforts to design and manufacture more advanced combustion engines are not restricted to aviation.

On the ground, we are developing ever more efficient diesel and gas-powered generators used to provide emergency power to hospitals, data centres, airports, manufacturing plants and independent power grids. Diesel generator sets have been highly refined to provide high-power density efficiently. At one data centre in the US, for example, our MTU Series 4000 gensets are expected to save more than 48 million kilowatt-hours of energy and reduce carbon emissions by more than 19,000 tonnes over the next decade.

Our existing Series 4000 diesel engines for marine applications have been optimised for greater efficiency. Ongoing projects such as efforts to reduce friction in our combustion engines will drive further emissions reductions.

Technological advances in digitilisation, electrification and sustainable fuels will drive progress in propulsion and power generation for example, through integrated systems and microgrids. These will link renewable energy sources, battery storage and smart management components with backup generator facilities or fuel cells to play a part in the push forward to net zero .

New jet engine designs

Our focus on aircraft efficiency gains is paying environmental dividends.

The Trent XWB is our most efficient widebody aircraft engine yet. It helps the Airbus A350XWB airliner achieve a 25% reduction in fuel use compared to the previous generation of equivalent aircraft.

Beyond the Trent XWB, our new UltraFan™ design, represents another step-change in efficiency.

With a large fan that moves vast amounts of air slowly, and a small, hot core that rotates at high speed, the UltraFan™ goes further with less fuel. A powered gearbox enables parts to spin at the most efficient speed possible.

Efficiency through aircraft integration

We already achieve fuel efficiency improvements through closer physical and digital integration of engines and airframes.

In our current engines, electronic control systems communicate with the cockpit continuously during flight, adjusting performance depending on power requirements. We are also working on further structural, aerodynamic and thermal integration, which will lead to the supply of more useful information to pilots, enabling further engine optimisation.

Green & High Tech programme

Investing in engine efficiency technology

Green & High Tech programme

Our Green & High-Tech programme, sees us invest in engine efficiency technology amongst other elements in order to keep us at the cutting-edge of low carbon progress.

The five pillars of the programme are:

Engine efficiency
Electrification
Digitalisation
Systems integration
Alternative fuels

More information on the Green & High-Tech programme

The new mtu 16v 4000 gas engine for commercial marine applications

Intelligent integration

Driving the transition of propulsion and power generation to net zero

Intelligent integration

Digitalisation, electrification and the production of sustainable fuels from renewable electricity are expected to help drive the transition of propulsion and power generation to net zero.

The full potential of individual advances will require integration into intelligent systems. Autonomous microgrids could, for example, use weather forecast data to prioritise reducing emissions, and efficiently link:

wind turbines and photovoltaic cells
an MTU EnergyPack
a battery container
a smart energy management system
gas or diesel generators

More efficient power to protect

Rolls-Royce marine engineers work with our partners on naval programmes to determine how warships will be used in a range of scenarios, configuring power and propulsion systems so that engines operate as efficiently as possible.

Our hydrodynamicists are also able to achieve an optimal balance between underwater radiated noise signature and propeller efficiency, which can minimise power requirements at given speeds. The resulting fuel use and emissions savings can be very significant over time.

Advanced materials

Components made with lighter, stronger, more heat-resistant materials can reduce weight, fuel use and emissions.

We’re developing new, advanced materials, working with scientists at leading institutions in the UK, Germany, Singapore and the US.

Our newest engines, for example, will include bearings made with an advanced hybrid-ceramic material called silicon nitride, making them lighter, stronger and able to withstand higher temperatures.

The power and propulsion system we are developing for the Tempest combat aircraft will be lightweight, more power-dense and capable of operating at higher temperatures thanks to the use of new composite materials and additive layer manufacturing.

From cow emissions to low emissions

Turning the tide on climate change through improved efficiency is not, however, just about developing breakthrough technologies.

Almost 5,000 cattle at the Norm-E-Lane dairy farm in Wisconsin, USA, are also doing their bit. Manure they produce goes into an anaerobic digester where the methane biogas it releases is turned into electricity and heat with our Series 4000 MTU biogas combined heat and power (CHP) system. The system generates heat for the anaerobic digester and other farm facilities, as well as excess electricity which the farm sells to the grid.

From here to a greener future

It takes many years and considerable investment to design, test and launch a new product.

The progress we are making today will enable significant reductions in emissions over coming decades.

Reaching net zero will require greater collaboration between the public and private sector, including making the most of partnerships with academic institutions. Continued funding of aerospace development programmes, such as through the UK Aerospace Technology Institute and the European Clean Sky project, is essential.

We must also preserve essential skills in the aviation industry, despite the current challenges the sector faces.