“As the civil aviation market recovers, the innovation of great British companies such as Rolls-Royce and the entire aerospace sector are central to our plans to build back better from the pandemic and end our contribution to climate change by 2050.”
But new opportunities are also emerging that can completely transform gas turbine sustainability, not through further improvements to its inner working, but from the fuel itself.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel offers a transformative future for aviation, creating a cycle of creation and use that has the potential to reduce net CO2 lifecycle emissions by more than 75% compared with traditional jet fuel, or even zero emissions if created by nuclear power plant.
The challenges are making it to scale, making it economically viable, and proving it is technically feasible to use. We are supporting efforts to bring the aviation sector, fuel industry, governments and industry bodies together to break through the barriers that apply to the first issue.
In terms of economics UltraFan’s efficiency will help improve the economics of an industry transition to more sustainable fuels, which are likely to be more expensive in the short-term than traditional jet fuel. And we are committed to demonstrating there are no barriers to SAF’s use in an engine.
We’ve already run current Trent and Pearl engines on ground tests using 100% SAF, and found no issues regarding engine performance. And we’ve supported the ECLIF3 (Emission and Climate Impact of Alternative Fuels) programme that has now flown an Airbus A350 aircraft, powered by a Trent XWB engine.
We will also prove SAF is ready to power our engines of the future – the very first run of UltraFan in 2022 will be on 100% SAF, providing continued reassurance to everyone involved with aviation of its suitability.
Beyond UltraFan there is no shortage of opportunities to improve the gas turbine even further – through electrification, hydrogen, and new materials to just name a few. It will be a continued journey of relentless research, continual testing, and further progress towards an ever-more sustainable world.