Project GENESIS – Gauging the environmental sustainability of electric and hybrid aircraft

In a global context, where societies need to move towards more environmental sustainability, the aviation sector has an important role to play. Transition to reduce its environmental footprint, i.e. the impacts on ecosystems, human health and natural resources stemming from activities in the entire value chain of aircraft, has become high on political and industrial agenda. This transition must go hand in hand with the technological transformation of aircraft systems, moving away from the conventional use of fossils-based fuels to alternative energy sources, like biofuels, hydrogen or electricity via batteries. Recently-launched project GENESIS, which is part of the Clean Sky 2 programme, contributes to this effort with a purpose to develop a technology and sustainability roadmap for transitioning towards environmentally sustainable and competitive electric and hybrid aircraft systems. Regional class, 50 pax aircraft are considered as a focus point, and several powertrain technology alternatives are explored, including conventional, batteries, fuel cells and hybrid combinations of them, all with three time perspectives over the period 2020-2050. Building on the multidisciplinary and complementary expertise of its consortium members, GENESIS specifically aims to (i) develop a conceptual design, associated with technology requirements, for 50 pax regional class electric/hybrid aircraft; (ii) perform technology foresight analyses on the key elements of the aircraft system; and (iii) build life cycle inventories for each relevant technology processes within the aircraft life cycle (from resource extraction, through manufacturing and use, up to end-of-life), and use them to perform prospective life cycle assessment quantifying potential environmental impacts of future aircraft system configurations and potential scenarios. Outcomes from these will feed into the development of the technological and sustainability roadmap for future regional class electric A/C development, and thus contribute to steer future initiatives within academia, industry and authorities to transition to innovative, competitive and sustainable aviation.