Technology

Reducing emissions across the value chain to help adapt to and, where possible, mitigate the effects of climate change.

The aviation sector is reported to contribute between 2-3% of the global carbon dioxide related emissions, with this figure projected to grow significantly to c.12% by 2050 if aviation realises its growth potential whilst other industries significantly reduce emissions in parallel. However, for aviation, carbon dioxide makes up only approximately a third of its total impact to global warming, with in flight nitrogen oxides and contrails contributing most of the rest. As these wider impacts become better understood, the pressure on aviation will only increase with the likely impact of suppressing growth unless action is taken.

The major manufacturers in the aerospace sector need to collaborate with all parts of the supply chain to innovate and deliver solutions that accelerate the path to Net Zero. The size of the challenge cannot be overestimated and requires a two-pronged approach whereby manufacturers need to find a way to scale up current production levels in a sustainable manner, while developing the aircraft of the future that will eliminate the climate impact of aviation from the top down.

Our ambition for sustainable aviation

Our ambition is simple. In efforts to be the most trusted and sustainable partner in the sky, we want to leverage our market-leading positions in technological innovation, advanced processes and engineering excellence to help aircraft fly safely and more sustainably.

With our operational excellence, high-volume production and smart industry capabilities, we are now driving the global development towards lower energy consumption, reduced material waste and higher performance, resulting in shorter production lead times and more affordability for our customers.

Fleet renewal

Replacing older, less-efficient aircraft will typically reduce the average emissions per seat mile by approximately 15%, with the additional energy consumed in manufacture many times less than the benefits of flight efficiency. With our technology on board almost every new aircraft type, we are contributing to the industry push for fleet renewal. An example of this is our advanced geared turbo-fan engine structures, which enable significant reductions in fuel burned.

Aircraft operations

Flying to avoid contrails offers the most immediate and significant opportunity for using existing aircraft in more-efficient ways, with the negative impact of contrails as large as the total CO2e contribution of every aircraft that has ever flown. However, this requires global collaboration, and we engage in multiple cross-industry forums to understand and influence the industry, while also ensuring our technology supports future improvements.

More-efficient aircraft

The most-efficient aircraft available today incorporate technologies that are over a decade old. Many opportunities exist to improve traditional architectures for more efficient flight, such as improved engine efficiency, improved materials, or greater electrification. With our combination of engine and airframe OEM capabilities, we are well positioned to develop design concepts, electrical solutions, materials, and manufacturing methods to enable significant improvements in efficiency.

Sustainable aviation fuels

Many alternatives exist to avoid burning fossil fuels, through recycling or manufacturing hydrocarbons as a direct drop-in fuel for existing aircraft concepts, and these are seen as an important step in decarbonisation. Although we are not directly involved in producing SAF, we have performed and supported tests, and improving efficiency is an important step in making the limited supply of SAF go further.

Hydrogen combustion

Burning hydrogen in a classical engine architecture offers the potential to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions. The existence of NOx and contrails requires further analysis, and new technology is required to store and manage liquid hydrogen. In addition, a significant amount of renewable energy is needed to create and liquefy hydrogen. We have looked at engine concepts through its H2Jet programme, enabling us to understand the new requirements for our products as well as identify some potential new product opportunities such as hydrogen pumps or electrification. Most recently, we became a founding partner of the Hydrogen in Aviation (HIA), a group of leading companies in the UK aviation and renewable energy sectors that will drawing on its considerable expertise to propose a clear pathway to achieving hydrogen-powered aviation.

Hydrogen electric propulsion

Using liquid hydrogen to generate onboard electricity offers the potential to eliminate both CO2 and NOx emissions. Technical advances are required in each step of the technology with storage, power generation, thermal management and power distribution the main technology challenges. We lead a major £54m technology programme, H2GEAR, to develop capabilities in electrical power generation and cryogenic electrical distribution and motors in five years.

Battery electric aircraft

Using batteries to power aircraft produces no in-flight emissions at all and offers fully net zero travel if renewable electricity is used. Power density limits the payload and range potential of this technology, and so it is likely to have only a small role in reducing aviation’s impact on global warming. We are the principal partner of the leading disruptors in the area of ‘advanced air mobility’, exploiting its core capabilities in wings, empennage and electrical systems, while developing greater understanding of the new more-agile business process that will be required for this new market.