Technology
Aeronautics /
Europe
Airbus plans zero emissions
Airbus studies technologies to reduce emissions from its aircraft
A320
Airbus
CC By SA-2.0 www.jetstar.com
Rafael
2/28/2021
Airbus is working on emission reductions for its aircraft. In 2019, the company opened a facility to test alternative propulsion systems. According to an Airbus spokesman, the Daher-Socata TBM 900 turboprop is also being used to analyze the propulsion distributed between the standard engine and complemented by wing-mounted electric motors.
The main alternative propulsion that the company cites is the use of hydrogen, the company said that it will launch its airplane powered exclusively by hydrogen in 2035. However, this fuel presents difficulties in its use, both for infrastructure reasons and because of its volume. .
Airbus A320
Latam
CC BY-SA 2.0, via wikimedia commons
With that, on February 26, the company said it was also working on hybrid-electric alternatives. "The company's work on electric flight laid the foundation for our future zero-emission commercial aircraft concept (...). (The company) is now exploring a variety of hybrid-electric and hydrogen technology options."
"Only a combination of technologies, including hydrogen, will help us target zero emission," said an Airbus spokesman.
Open rotor engines with visible blades are being extensively exploited, using a mixture of turbines and electric propulsion for future replacements of the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320, other officials told Reuters.
Thus, the replacement of the Airbus A320, the brand's best-selling aircraft, may be a hybrid-electric one still in the 2030s. Thus, hydrogen can become the main fuel only in future generations.
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