Investment into clean aviation technologies has a significant socio-economic impact – EURACTIV
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By Axel Krein | Clean Aviation
21-09-2022 (updated: 21-09-2022 )
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Aviation has a significant socio-economic impact on all of our lives, not only in Europe but around the world. Thanks to our connected airspaces, businesses can prosper, trade is facilitated, packages can be delivered worldwide, families can reunite with each other, tourists can explore the globe, and experts can meet to discuss and debate new ideas for a better future.
Axel Krein is the Executive Director of Clean Aviation.
Europe’s aviation sector currently supports almost 10 million jobs and accounts for €672 billion in European Union economic activity, according to the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe, through the operation of airlines and airports, through aerospace manufacturing and services, enabling tourism and supply chains.
Despite aviation’s impressive track record when it comes to increasing wealth in Europe, the environmental consequences of travelling by air can no longer be ignored. That’s why the Clean Sky, Clean Sky 2 and Clean Aviation programmes have been exploring new and disruptive technologies that can revolutionise European airspace and make it green.
Roland Berger carried out a study to quantify exactly how much socio-economic impact the Clean Sky 2 programme has had since it started in 2014, taking into consideration the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis. The study also investigated the future outlook for the aviation sector and what impact the Clean Sky 2 programme will have going forwards as the technologies we have developed mature and reach the market.
A growing sector
One of the key take-aways from the report was that the European aviation sector looks set to continue its growth trajectory – up to 18.5 million European jobs will be supported by the aviation sector in 2050. These posts include roles not directly linked to aviation, such as supply chain and tourism positions, demonstrating the knock-on effect that a strong aerospace sector has on the rest of the economy.
Significant value for investment
Investing in science, technology and innovation are critical drivers of economic growth and competitiveness. Clean Sky 2 projects alone will support almost 5000 jobs between 2015 and 2024.
That figure accounts not only for research grant allocations, but also companies’ own contributions to the projects and additional activities and costs that fall outside of Clean Sky 2’s work plan but contribute to our objectives.
As Clean Sky 2 technologies enter the market, they will continue to deliver economic benefits – a total of EUR 8.6 billion by 2050 in real, net present value terms is expected, equivalent to more than three times the initial public and private investment made.
The research and development activities funded by Clean Sky 2 grants and contributions from companies to the projects that they are working on – e.g. labour and procurement costs – from 2015 to 2024 directly contribute an average of EUR 109 million per year to Europe’s GDP.
Delivering on our environmental objectives
These economic wins are, of course, in addition to the environmental benefits that Clean Sky 2’s innovations will bring. Our mission to create technology that can significantly reduce the carbon, NOx and noise impact of aircraft is well on-track. The global social value of reduced CO2 emissions resulting from our technologies could be worth EUR 200 billion between 2035 and 2050.
The Clean Sky 2 technologies will deliver a 15% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions per seat-kilometre by 2050 compared to 2014 technology, as well as a 31% reduction in NOx emissions within the same parameters. Overall, the study estimates that incorporating Clean Sky’s technologies into the global aircraft fleet by 2050 will ultimately result in a global environmental value of a total of EUR 320 billion – of which 60% is due to CO2 reduction and 40% is due to NOx reduction.
Clean aviation, we cannot do this alone
Of course, the story of Clean Sky will not end with Clean Sky 2! Clean Aviation’s First Call for Proposals was already launched in 2022. Official results are expected by end of September.
Clean Aviation is focusing on the three thrusts as the backbone of our journey to climate neutrality. But we cannot do this alone – several other pieces of the puzzle must also be in place.
Accelerate adoption of 2030+ Entry in Service aircrafts. The current typical commercial aircraft lifespan is of 20-25 years. Encouraging retirement and new purchases through regulatory push or commercial push might be essential.
Shorten design, development and certification cycles. We must accelerate the process of getting these new aircraft from the drawing board to the skies. Without compromising on safety standards, we have to improve manufacturing systems so that cleaner and better aircraft can be flying sooner. This marries perfectly with the need to shorten aircraft design and development cycles. Where and how can we optimise the processes to ensure smooth and speedy transitions?
Reconfigure Aviation and ATC infrastructure. Air traffic control and aviation infrastructures will need to be overhauled, and quickly. If we look at hydrogen, it is 3 times the volume of kerosene, so bigger tanks and storage facilities are needed in airports for example. A full suite of new infrastructure will be required if Europe is to host a large fleet of hydrogen-propelled aircraft.
Boost availability of Sustainable fuels, as these will be crucial to the clean aviation revolution, but what’s not yet clearly defined are the supply chains and the feedstocks of these fuels. We must have a sufficient and constant supply of sustainable aviation fuels and hydrogen to make these new eco-friendly aircraft a reality.
Enable the adoption of new airline network strategies will be key to unlocking the full potential of regional aircraft with novel propulsion systems, such as hydrogen (fuel cell) and battery electric. These aircraft, despite their short range, could represent a major share of decarbonisation with new network strategies, such as distributed aviation, increased point-to-point, de-hubbing, and consolidation of flights.
Develop and implement mitigation strategies for Non- CO₂ effects. Finally, it is clear that non-CO₂ effects exist and that the total climate impact of aviation may be 2–4x as much as the impact of CO₂ alone. We must improve research into these non-CO2 effects and especially into what the impact of the new clean aircraft may be in terms of these effects.
Overall, the impact that the disruptive technologies developed by Clean Sky 2 and Clean Aviation will have far-reaching consequences that go beyond the obvious environmental benefits. Our programmes have a knock-on effect on society and the economy, creating jobs, fostering innovation and generating wealth as well as reducing the environmental impact of the air transport sector.
Read the independent study on the socio-economic impact of the Clean Sky 2 Programme here