LESS noise, less exhaust, less refuse – air travel of the future is expected to be quieter, cleaner and more environmentally friendly.
To achieve this goal, new structural concepts and aerodynamic profiles have to be engineered, along with better drive concepts as well as adapted logistical designs, and then put to use.
In the EU project Clean Sky, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany want to make their contribution to solving this Herculean task.
The experts are calling for a 50% cut in COand noise emissions from commercial aircraft by 2020; nitrogen oxide output should be reduced by 80%. The goals are bold, but Fraunhofer’s professor Holger Hanselka thinks they are achievable.
The ambition of the 86 participating industry and research partners from 16 nations is not only to develop unique technologies for specific applications, but also to evaluate and advance the entire aeronautics system.
But its not just about testing engines, wings and fuselage structures for efficiency and fuel consumption. The entire carbon footprint of every component will come under the microscope and be analysed.
For the first time, the researchers also intend to take into account the lifecycle of materials within airline construction; until now, aircraft headed for retirement were extremely difficult to scrap and dispose of.
The aviation industry places a particularly premium on safety – for good reason, because the lives of passengers and crew depend on the integrity of the materials used being able to withstand mercurial pressure and temperature conditions as well as the vibrations and shearing forces that occur over the course of each flight.
As a result, safety standards too will come under close scrutiny.
Right after safety comes health and passenger well-being. So, for example, testing should indicate if a newly developed material diminishes the air quality in the passenger cabin.
The upshot should be that aircraft operating within EU airspace really do become significantly more efficient than they are at present.