Trends on current and forecasted aircraft hybrid electric architectures and their impact on environment

Abstract

Climate change is the megatrend that will have the biggest impact on the development of sustainable air transportation in near future. Aviation is expected to triple its proportional share of a Paris compatible 1.5°C budget, declared by UNFCCC Agreement for global temperature through 2050 under current international policies. Basket of measures proposed by ICAO to keep the temperature change under this limit, including aircraft technology (up to 25%) and operation improvement (up to 9%) for fuel burn reduction by engines and new revolutionary architectures of the aircraft, deployment of sustainable alternative fuels (over 40% of fuel burn reduction), market based measures (ICAO CORSIA) as pushing system for more quick and efficient implementation of the first three, etc. Pioneering sustainable technology is allowing the civil aviation sector to embrace the next generation of aviation through electrification and alternative fuel sources. Electric propulsion is proposed as one of the revolutionary technology changes in aviation, which should be assessed on possible contribution in reaching the climate change goal and one of the environmental goals of the EU strategic document Flightpath 2050. Existing potential and forecasted progress for More Electric Aircraft concept is showing quite limited reduction in fuel burn and emission. Full electric or hybrid propulsion may provide essential reduction, but in considered time frame it is looking to be very possible for implementation in groups of General Aviation, Urban Air Taxis and Regional Aircraft first of all. More than 90% of GHG emissions from global commercial aircraft operations are generated by Large Commercial Aircraft, so research to reduce commercial aircraft emissions will be most useful if it focuses on technology applicable to them.

Application of Probabilistic Set-Based Design Exploration on the Energy Management of a Hybrid-Electric Aircraft

“…Projects such as the European Union's FlightPath 2050 seek to reduce the CO 2 and NO x emissions of the commercial fleet by 75% and 90%, respectively, compared to the best-of-class in 2000 [1]. These goals fall within a global trend of aviation de-carbonification measures proposed by the ICAO [2]. One type of electrified aircraft concept is the hybridelectric aircraft (HEA), where the power required for propulsion is supplied by more than one type of energy source, usually fuel and batteries [3,4].…”

Perspectives and Development of Electrical Systems in More Electric Aircraft

“…By the time the power sources for AEA would be improved, the concept of HEA is a promising idea. The fuel saving of 20-30% is expected by 2035, within the shortmedium range HEA [188].…”

Large-Scale Piezoelectric-Based Systems for More Electric Aircraft Applications

“…A concept of more/all-electric aircraft has recently received huge attention in the research and development work in the field of aerospace engineering [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. The intent is to use more electrical systems in aircraft and aerospace applications to bring an impact on the environment [ 8 ]. With the fast development of electrification, more researchers and manufacturers are shifting to this dynamic trend involving a high demand for increasing the load, improving fuel efficiency, reducing emissions, and lowering the total cost of operation.…”