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Royal Jordanian is looking to make flying more sustainable by using renewable energy sources to reduce carbon emissions and promote environmental awareness

Site:
https://www.rj.com/en/meet-rj/our-corporate-responsibilities/environment

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1. Global Impact of Air Travel:

Longer Flights: Research about how new technologies allow airplanes to fly longer distances without stopping, connecting far-away places more directly.

Improved Comfort: Research how features like better air filtration systems and more spacious seating arrangements that make flying a more comfortable experience for passengers.

Advanced Navigation Systems: Describe how GPS and other modern navigation tools help pilots find the quickest and safest routes, reducing travel time and enhancing safety.

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Emirates have been actively working on sustainability as they have a website just about their plans on sustainability and how dedicated they are to make flying greener.

Site:
https://www.emirates.com/english/about-us/our-planet/sustainability-in-operations/

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“Sustainability is a key focus across operations at the Emirates Group, flydubai and Dubai Airports. The UAE is a major global aviation hub, and in line with the country’s vision to ensure sustainable development while preserving the environment, we are committed to taking meaningful initiatives and continually challenge our processes to deliver the highest possible value for all of our stakeholders. The green turnaround, involving a collaborative effort from airline, ground handler and airport operator, highlights Dubai’s commitment and ability to make a difference by using resources in a sustainable manner.”

- His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum

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So we used our research skills by collecting data from articles and books and asked people for information for our key concepts each one of us has his key concepts so for me Omar I took form and Vibhav responsibility and Shahem took causation each one of us used his research skills to complete our key concepts.

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In 2022 - 2023 Air india has saved 265kg of carbon emissions thanks to new technologies air india has managed to save that much carbon emissions making the environment alot safer

Site:
https://www.airindiaexpress.com/sustainability#:~:text=Where%20are%20we%3F,kg%2Fflight%20in%20carbon%20emissions.

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Notably , in July 2019, a shipment trip of an EgyptAir Boeing 787-9 from Everett, Washington to Cairo, Egypt set a record for the extended flight drawing sustainable Aviation fuel(SAF).This act set history for the company in the 2020s.

Bibliography: https://simpleflying.com/egyptair-sustainability-interview/

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Scientific inventions influence airplane designs, aiding worldwide travel and supporting sustainability

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1. Form: How have new scientific ideas and technology made airplanes better?

Research- about the changes in airplanes because of new science like how air moves around objects (aerodynamics), new materials that make planes stronger but lighter, and improved engines that help planes fly longer distances.

2. Causation: How do these better airplane designs make traveling around the world easier and help the environment?

Research- what happens when we improve airplanes — like using less fuel, causing less pollution, and making it possible to travel to more places easily.

3. Responsibility: What should scientists and engineers do to make sure airplanes are safe for the environment?

Research- about what scientists and engineers can do to make airplanes that don’t hurt the environment, like using different kinds of fuels that are better for the Earth, making planes that save more energy, and following rules that protect our planet.

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8:Decent work and Economic Growth

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Under your line of inquiry I have put some ideas for you to reseach

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Climate change: How can we make flying greener? – DW – 04/26/2023

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Biofuels, alternative flight routes and newer, green aircraft technology can make flying better for the environment. How close are we to introducing these climate-friendly alternatives?

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What will air travel look like in 2035 and beyond? Learn more about the latest trends in the aviation industry and how your flying experience will change over the next few decades.

Air travel has a reputation for being cramped, uncomfortable, and expensive, particularly at peak times. It's also a major contributor to the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

But major changes to air travel are in development, so hopefully, in the next few decades, traveling by plane will get more affordable, more comfortable, and more environmentally friendly.

Here are some of the ways the future of air travel is expected to change:

1. Hydrogen-powered planes. Aviation is currently responsible for 3.6% of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions due to the fact that modern planes use kerosene as fuel. A recent report suggested that hydrogen-powered planes could enter the market as soon as 2035, and those planes could carry hundreds more passengers per flight than traditional planes, with a cleaner energy source.

2. Going beyond traditional wing design. A blended wing design combines the wing and the fuselage into a single unit, so the entire aircraft provides the lift for the flight. Delta wings - like those used on the Concorde and high-speed military jets - may also be incorporated in some way into commercial planes.

KLM is also working with Delft University of Technology on a 'Flying V' plane that has passenger cabins down each side of a v-shaped aircraft. The company claims this type of plane could offer 20% more fuel efficiency than the A350.

3. Futuristic cabin design. Airlines are constantly looking for ways to maximize the number of people they can put on each flight without sacrificing the comfort of the passengers. In the future, we may see improvements such as double-decker economy seats that promise more space for riders, paired with increased capacity for the airline.

4. Air taxis. Have you been longing to ride in a flying car that feels like it's straight from Back to the Future or the Jetsons? Aviation companies are researching ways to shift local transportation from the road to the air with electrically-powered "air taxis" for short flights.

In 2017, Volocopter completed their maiden flight for electrified individual air transport, and the Lilium Jet from Munich is reported to be able to fly 300km for an hour. Their five-seater air taxi could start operating as early as 2025, and traveling by air taxi could be as common as traveling by subway is in major cities today. Autonomous air taxis may follow shortly after as technology continues to evolve.

5. The return of supersonic flights. United plans to buy 15 new supersonic airliners, and hopes to "return supersonic speeds to aviation" by the year 2029. Previous supersonic passenger flights ended in 2003 when British Airways and Air France retired the Concorde. The definition of supersonic flight is when an aircraft travels faster than the speed of sound, which is approximately 660mph (1,060km/h) if the plane is traveling at an altitude of 60,000ft (18,300m).

6. Better in-flight entertainment. In-flight entertainment options of the future will include more screens, more gaming, and even the ability to take e-courses during your flight. Panasonic is also developing ways for passengers to improve wellness on flights by setting up lighting to regulate circadian rhythms on long-haul flights and dampening cabin noise to promote better sleep.

VR and AR companies are also anxious to give travelers more immersive experiences on flights. Alaska Airlines and British Airways have trialed SkyLight's VR headsets in first-class cabins on selected routes. As the development of the metaverse continues, we'll likely see more opportunities for passengers to enjoy immersive experiences while flying.

To learn more about the business and technology trends that are transforming today's companies, sign up for my newsletter, and check out my books 'Business Trends in Practice' and 'Tech Trends in Practice'.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my other work here.

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What will air travel look like in 2035 and beyond? Learn more about the latest trends in the aviation industry and how your flying experience will change over the next few decades.

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Article

Responsible for 2.5% of global carbon emissions, the aviation industry is under increased pressure to set a path to reach net zero. The pandemic was a survival battle for airlines, but set the scene to re-evaluate business models and make necessary changes to protect the environment. Climate change is among the most pressing challenges the aviation industry faces today.

In the long-term, we as the global travel industry must move towards clean aviation - this needs to be a multistakeholder approach that includes airlines, governments, technology companies and suppliers. In the medium-term - and despite its drawbacks - switching to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) could mean a reduction in carbon emissions of more than 70 percent.

However, the above is a long journey. In the immediate term, airlines need to embrace and accelerate digital transformation, leading to better operational efficiency, effective route planning and healthier profitability. Technology can help serve as a bridge while the industry acts on multi-year plans to reduce its emissions. Here are five ways it can help make flying more sustainable now.

1. Displaying CO2 emissions calculations in passengers' search results

71% of global travelers say they want to travel more sustainably. But how can they if they don't know what sustainable means? By showing passengers how much CO2 each flight is estimated to produce, we can raise awareness of the environmental impact of aviation and encourage passengers to make greener choices. Google is empowering people to make sustainable choices through its Travel Impact Model (TIM). The TIM powers the carbon emissions estimates that passengers see next to nearly every flight when they search through Google Flights. Google's TIM was recently integrated into Sabre's travel booking system as well. So now, when a travel agent goes to book a flight through Sabre, they and their travellers can see the estimated carbon footprint of each possible choice.

2. Route planning for aircraft

Machine learning and artificial intelligence can help airlines set more efficient flightpaths, minimizing fuel consumption and reducing delays. These technologies analyze things like wind speed, temperature and weather patterns in real time - reducing fly time and cutting emissions. Delta Airlines is already having some success with this, using predictive data analytics to improve its fuel efficiency and reduce carbon emissions by approximately 2.5 million metric tons annually. Better route planning also means reduced operating costs for airlines - so, more money to invest in innovation and advancing sustainability goals.

3. Selling carbon offsetting - or SAF investment - as an ancillary

When buying a ticket, some airlines give travelers the option to pay a little more to offset the carbon emissions their flight will create. While the effectiveness of these schemes is debateable, they do offer the consumer some way of taking action. What we could see more of in the future is airlines putting "offset" ancillary income towards the development of sustainable aviation fuels; United Airlines is doing this already. This could help accelerate the aviation industry's transition to SAF, which is still in the early, and very expensive, stage of development. Either way, effective retailing technology is needed enable airlines to offer these initiatives to travelers.

4. Using passenger data to more accurately predict demand

Another way technology can help airlines operate more sustainably is by using passenger data to more accurately predict demand. With advanced algorithms and machine learning, airlines can better understand customer behavior and anticipate future demand. They can then adjust capacity to meet demand without overloading flights or running half-empty planes. As capacity utilization increases, greenhouse gas emissions per passenger kilometer decrease, making air travel more sustainable.

5. Using technology to help decrease load factor

While ensuring that as many seats as possible are filled on a flight, an airline must balance this with carrying unnecessary weight. Unnecessary extra weight increases the quantity of fuel burned in flight; as the International Civil Aviation Organization explains, "the extra fuel burn attributable to additional weight carried on board an aircraft is typically... 2.5 to 4.5 per cent of the additional weight, per hour of flight". Technologies can help airlines maximize seat capacity and space for essential cargo, while implementing luggage weight restrictions, and minimizing unnecessary items onboard.

Key takeaways

Raising awareness on sustainability, while improving operational efficiency are things all airlines should be doing now. At Sabre, we are actively offering and developing technology that helps airlines set the fastest routes, increase passenger load factors, reduce unnecessary weight, retail more effectively, harness the power of AI and data, and help travelers make sustainable flight choices. Today, every flight should aim to be as green as possible, and technology holds the key.

About the Author

Jessica Matthias, Global Director of Sustainability (ESG) at Sabre, has held roles of increasing responsibility in ESG and Global Communications for the past eight years.

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Five ways technology can make flying more sustainable - now

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Responsible for 2.5% of global carbon emissions, the aviation industry is under increased pressure to set a path to reach net zero. The pandemic was a survival battle for airlines, but set the scene to re-evaluate business models and make necessary changes to protect the environment. Climate change is among...

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The pandemic affected everyone and all areas of our lives. Not only personal lives were affected, but businesses and employee's lives were affected drastically during the pandemic that turned our world upside down. If the last time that you stepped foot on a plane was before the pandemic, then you're not alone. Since 2019, statistics show that air travel is down by 85%. With the fear of close quarters and the virus spreading it's no wonder that people feared being in a plane with one another for hours at a time.

2020 not only did air travel drop in statistics, but it also saw a variety of new travel for aviation that we haven't seen before. Since 1920 when planes first become available for passengers, we've seen aviation change the world in ways we never thought possible before. But when COVID-19 came and changed lives, aviation changed just as much as the rest of the world. We saw masks being implemented for flights, seats being blocked off for social distancing, and border closures complicating flights.

Although these changes may seem drastic, it's nothing compared to all the fluctuations that aviation has gone through since passengers first stepped foot on flights. In fact, these fluctuations are just the most recent developments in a very long history of changes in aviation that have altered how passengers reach destinations through air travel. Although many people are aware of air travel and recent developments with it, few know the history of how aviation came around and just how far it's come.

If you're one of these people, we'll walk you through the last 100 years of aviation and how it's changed the world.

1920s: Planes First Became Available For Passenger

The 1920s marked the start of a decade when aircraft was designed with passengers in mind for them to fly. Planes looked far different back than they do now, with flying not being nearly as luxurious as it is today. The first plane rides were bumpy, uncomfortable, and far from smooth for passengers.

1930s: All Were Served Luxury Treatment

1936 marked the first time that United Airlines created the first airline kitchen. Until the 1950s, there was no economic class. All passengers received the same luxury treatment; meals, magazines, and quality seats were provided with all flights, a luxury now that would require you to pay for a first-class seat.

1940s: In-Flight Entertainment Was Introduced

In 1941 live in-flight entertainment was introduced as a new feature on flights. On some flights, passengers would even get to experience live actors and singers performing on the flight. Nowadays it's more common to see passengers using their electronics to stay entertained during their flight, but back in the 40s, it was a different case on flights.

During this time Pan American Airways also began offering frozen dinners to passengers. Advancements in flashing freezing technology allowed for the stewardess to warm up the frozen dinners with conventional ovens before they would bring them out and serve them to passengers.

Towards the end of the decade, in 1948, Capital Airlines created the first coach fares for passengers. Before this, all flights were priced the same, but this allowed an entirely new set of passengers to experience air travel. This allowed for a wider group of people to purchase flights.

1971 marked a significant time when Buffer Airlines added technology to their flights for the first time. Passengers were offered the option of playing Pong while onboard their flight, marking the first use of video games on a flight. This was a critical movement for airlines and began a new start to entertainment for passengers on board.

Yet another crucial moment in the history of aviation was when Southwest Airlines offered their first e-tickets or electronic tickets to passengers in 1994. The goal with e-tickets, besides keeping up with the world of ever-changing and advancing technology was to eliminate the complications of paper tickets getting lost or stolen.

2000s: Security For Airlines Changed

Passengers faced new security mandates after a plot to place liquid explosives was uncovered in 2006. New security mandates strictly enforced rules on liquids that passengers could carry on flights and the quantity that passengers could bring on flights with them on their carry-on.

In 2012, Delta announced a lower-cost fare cost for passengers that was known as the basic economy. These flights included less than any other, including little to no baggage, no advance seat assignments, and had many other restrictions to them. This was an important part of aviation changing from what it had always been and to the advancements that were being made.

Although we know how aviation has changed through the decades, do we really know the big changes that have happened over time? There are many rules and methods put in place with flights today that didn't exist back when aviation first began. Aviation has changed and all these changes aren't obvious at first. Now that we've learned exactly when it changed and what's happened throughout the decades, let's take a look at the huge changes in comparison to what aviation looks like today.

More than eight million people use air travel every day. That's a lot of people that are choosing planes as their first choice of travel each day. Although aviation used to be a popular travel choice, there was a point where travel was viewed as a luxury only reserved for the wealthy. Today, everyone flies and chooses it as a form of travel.

There Are Budget Airlines Now

A large part of why flying was viewed as a luxury for the wealthy was due to the pricing of flying. Tickets weren't nearly as affordable as they are today and those that weren't part of the upper class couldn't afford to fly. Now airlines are much more affordable for everyone, making it so that all can fly.

If you've ever been on a flight, then you already know that airlines are very strict about a no smoking policy when passengers are on board. But, once upon a time, airlines had no restrictions when it came to smoking. You could easily light a cigarette if you wanted to on your flight.

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Although many people are aware of air travel and recent developments with it, few know the history of how aviation came around and just how far it's come.

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When someone says the word "airplane," a lot of different visuals might come to mind-the 1903 Wright Flyer (the world's first airplane), a World War II fighter, or a huge passenger jet with a modern cockpit. The fantastic part about aviation is that all of these images apply. Since it landed on a runway like an airplane, even the Space Shuttle can be considered part of the family. They are all airplanes, just different types. All have changed to keep pace with developing technology and the changing role of aviation on the world stage. No matter what you see when you think of an airplane, your first mental picture played a role in the cutting-edge wonders that are part of today's aviation industry.

The Wright Flyer

The Wright Brothers, Wilbur and Orville, are considered the fathers of aviation. Not only did they successfully undertake the first powered flight in a heavier-than-air craft, they designed the airplane, which accomplished the feat. While many at the turn of the 20 th century were racing to solve the riddle of safe aviation, the Wright Brothers were the first to sustainably crack the code. But they didn't come upon their design by blind luck. Their clever and efficient propeller design and attention to a specialized transmission system, for example, played a major role in their success.

The Wright Brothers were bicycle makers in Ohio, and their skill in building and understanding movement played a major role in designing their boxy Flyer. While it's not what we'd consider a sturdy aircraft to look like today, the 1903 Flyer was carefully tested and re-tested in a wind tunnel of the brothers' own making. The pair studied seagulls wheeling overhead at their testing site on the beaches of North Carolina, experimented with engines, and tackled issues of lift and drag, not to mention maneuverable control surfaces. Their hard work, ingenuity, and struggle for understanding led to a machine that carried a single pilot to the dawn of the aviation age.

Early Aviation

The earliest airplanes were controlled by cables and powered by reciprocating piston engines. These types of engines convert pressure via pistons into energy. Piston engines can take many different forms. In their designs, engineers were always balancing weight with power, and struggled to find ways to best produce lift in a safe and controllable manner. Where wing design was concerned, biplanes were the order of the day.

One airplane which represented a major step forward in aviation design was Hugo Junkers' F-13. You may not have heard of it, but you appreciate its innovation every time you step into a modern aircraft. The F-13 was the first all-metal airplane, a massive modernization that came only about a decade after the Wright Brothers' first flight. It could operate as a float plane and carried up to six people. The F-13 was not only metal, it pioneered a closed cockpit, an important improvement on the open cockpit of the Wright Flyer, which was designed for a single lying-down pilot minding the controls. The F-13 also introduced a low wing design and reshaped how early aviation engineers thought about streamlining.

Jet Engines and the Passenger Era

War did a great deal to push forward the development of aviation. Airplane were used in World War I, and since single-combat dogfights quickly developed between the warring nations, emphasis from designers was on maneuverability and speed. Larger but noisy transports were in the early stages of passenger aviation. While some designers tackled the idea of jet engines between World War I and World War II, the push to develop a reliable and safe engine which operated on condensed air and turbines took place throughout World War II.

The first jet fighter, the German Me 262, made an appearance in the war, but not very often, as it consumed fuel at an astonishing rate. Concurrently, a British designer worked out an engine for a jet fighter, the Gloster Meteor, but this plane was not used for combat because it did not move quickly enough.

Once the war was over, the development of jet engines and sleeker airplanes came to the fore. Swept wing designs began to appear more frequently. Restrictions on fuel and materials were lifted, and a workforce which had a great deal of mechanical training and hands-on experience with aviation came together to develop the glamor age of aviation. Propeller airplanes were refined to provide a comfortable passenger experience. The Lockheed XC-35, the first passenger airplane with a pressurized cabin, signified advancements in fuselage design as well as improvements to radial engines.

Meanwhile, the Air Force's Bell XS-1, designed in the mid-1940's, dropped from the bomb bay of a B-29, and, powered by a rocket engine, ushered in the space age. While rocket planes remain largely the domain of the military, recent increases of investments by private companies in such technology sustains hopes that such aircraft might be more common someday.

General Aviation, Glass Cockpits, and Attention to Economy

In the 1950's and early 1960's, hopes were high that airplanes would become America's next automobile, and that pilot licenses would be as common as driver's licenses. Small, dependable trainers such as the Piper Cherokee and a line of Cessnas were used by the military as well as civilian pilots.

As technology shot forward with the launching of satellites and development of lighter materials in the space age, pilots became more and more accustomed to learning to fly with GPS, automatic pilot, and such innovations as ground proximity warning systems. Winglets and sleeker designs provided greater speed and flight stability, and the needle-nosed supersonic Concorde seemed to promise a turbojet-saturated future.

Now that pilots work so often with electronics, airplane designers have begun to focus on human factors such as stress overload, help with multitasking, and avoiding sleep deprivation. In the cabin, passengers can enjoy WiFi for a fee, but with many airlines consolidating and competing for economy passengers, the days of dressing up for a glitzy flight are long gone. What's next?

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How Airplane Designs Have Changed Over Time - Cal Aero Blog

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When someone says the word "airplane," a lot of different visuals might come to mind, and you realize just how much airplanes have changed over time.

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Here's a word you may have overlooked in 2020: flygskam, a Swedish term for the feeling of being ashamed to fly. In a year that saw a 66 percent decrease in flights, compared to 2019, you might think that flygskam has flown the coop.

But with a recent uptick in air traffic-and the anticipation of travel's rebound thanks to COVID-19 vaccines-flygskam is taking flight again. The term originated in 2017 as part of a campaign to change how we fly, from the frequency of our flights to the technology of our aircraft. The goal: to mitigate the carbon dioxide emissions that experts think may triple by 2050.

Aviation accounts for a relatively small portion of global emissions-2.5 percent. While bigger culprits, such as electricity and agriculture, account for greater emissions, they also benefit billions of people. Airline emissions, in contrast, come mostly from rich travelers in the richest countries: business class passengers produce six times as much carbon as those in economy class, and one percent of the most frequent fliers are responsible for half of all aviation's carbon emissions.

Will the pandemic-caused travel slowdown be enough to shake up aviation and produce lasting benefits for the environment? In 2020, the drop in air traffic likely reduced carbon emissions by several hundred million tons. Some are calling to make those reductions permanent by eliminating contrails, using new fuels, improving navigation, and more. With climate change reaching a point of no return as early as 2035, action will need to happen quickly.
(Wondering what you can do? Here are 12 ways to travel sustainably in the new year.)
Of course, flying less would have an even bigger impact, and there are calls for travelers to fly only once a year, give up flying for a year, and attend conferences virtually. Still, air travel is here to stay, so the cleaner the better. Here are some of the ways flying could clean up its act in the years to come.

Curtailing the contrails

Aviation emits more than carbon dioxide; it also produces water vapor, aerosols, and nitrogen oxides. These pollutants absorb more incoming energy than what is radiated back to space, causing Earth's atmosphere to warm. This means aviation's impact on warming might be an even bigger share than its carbon footprint.

The worst of the non-carbon impacts are from contrails, short for condensation trails: the line-shaped clouds that form from a plane's engine exhaust. A small number of flights are responsible for most contrails. This is because contrails form only in narrow atmospheric bands where the weather is cold and humid enough.

Avoiding those zones could make a big difference in limiting aviation's non-carbon pollution. One research paper modeling Japan's airspace found that modifying a small number of flight routes to skip these areas could reduce contrails' effects on the climate by 59 percent. The change would be as little as 2,000 feet above or below these regions. While flying a plane higher or lower can reduce its efficiency and require more jet fuel, the paper found that limiting contrails would still offset any additional carbon emissions.

"There is a growing realization that the impact of contrails is a really significant component of aviation's climate impact," says Marc Stettler, one of the paper's authors and a lecturer on transport and the environment at Imperial College London.

The spots where contrails can form change from day to day, so airlines need accurate, multi-day weather forecasts to avoid them. In the future, pilots could report contrails, much like they now do with turbulence, so other planes could adjust their flight paths.

The EU's aviation authority, EUROCONTROL, starting preparing last year to conduct trials on a contrail avoidance project. Stettler and his colleagues plan to continue research on how to go about implementing changes that could reduce contrails.

"This is the faster way that aviation can reduce its climate impact," he says.

Harnessing alternative fuels

Commercial airplanes rely on kerosene-based propellant, but companies are experimenting with turning biomasses, such as vegetable oil and even used diapers, into jet fuels. Some research suggests these biofuels could cut carbon pollution from airplanes by upwards of 60 percent. But all biofuels are not created equal.

Those that could be processed into food are unsustainable because of the planet's growing population, which needs crops for calories. Used cooking oil and pulp leftover from agriculture or logging are expensive and not produced at a scale large enough to make a meaningful difference. But this doesn't mean that other sustainable aviation fuels won't be developed.
(How clean is the air on planes? Cleaner than you may think.)
"You hear that aviation is a hard sector to decarbonize," says Andrew Murphy, the aviation director at Transport and Environment, a European nongovernmental organization. "That is only half the story. The other half is we haven't tried."

More-promising areas include e-fuels, or "synthetic fuels," which don't require engines to be reengineered. To make e-fuels, electricity-hopefully renewable-is used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is then combined with carbon dioxide to make jet fuel. KLM recently conducted its first flight powered by synthetic fuel.

Another effort entails pulling carbon out of the atmosphere and using it as an ingredient in fuel. Although this technology is still in early stages, that doesn't mean it has to be far off.

"The pandemic has shown us new technology can be sped up if we want it to," Murphy says.

Going electric or hybrid

Cars aren't the only conveyance undergoing electric innovation: one count found a hundred electric-powered aircraft projects in the works.

The first electric flights will be in small planes with a range limited to a few hundred miles. Norway, a country with numerous islands and mountainous terrain calling for puddle jumpers, has promised that all of its short-haul flights will be on electric aircraft by 2040. Underserved areas could one day get new routes flown exclusively by electric planes.

"A huge fleet of these could radically change local transportation systems," says Ron Steenblik, former director of the International Institute for Sustainable Development 's Global Subsidies Initiative.

Going farther or flying bigger planes with electrification isn't on the near-term horizon. But some companies are exploring a hybrid of electricity and hydrogen, which could extend ranges. Boeing and others are also looking at hydrogen as a means of propulsion even without electrification. Airbus recently revealed three different hydrogen planes with plans to have one or something like it in service by 2035.

"We don't want to just make it technically feasible," says Glenn Llewellyn, vice president of Airbus's Zero-Emission Aircraft project. "We want to make it economically viable."

The Hindenburg disaster in 1937 ended the first hydrogen era. The aviation industry tried and dropped a hydrogen effort again in 2010 after finding it too expensive. But Llewellyn points out that hydrogen has been improved by other industries, such as automobile and space, proving its safety, innovating on its uses, and bringing down its costs.

"The ecosystem is evolving in a much different way than 10 years ago," Llewellyn says. "We have a better starting point."

Giving navigation an upgrade

Airlines have used computers to help optimize routing and planning for decades, but they're now putting artificial intelligence (AI) to work in finding new ways to reduce jet fuel needs.

Air France, Norwegian, and Malaysia Airlines are already using technology called Sky Breathe that relies on big data and AI to analyze billions of records from flights in an effort to find ways to save fuel. The company behind Sky Breathe says it has saved its customers more than $150 million in 2019 and reduced CO2 emissions by 590,000 tons.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is midway through a multiyear upgrade called NextGen, which will be a series of interconnected systems to improve how air traffic control sees, navigates, and communicates. The FAA says the technology will make it possible to schedule tighter landings and takeoffs and decrease delays that leave planes sitting on the tarmac or circling the airport.

"AI is really good at looking at patterns," says Ashish Kapoor, an AI researcher at Microsoft who works on aviation projects. "We have years of experience of flying planes, so we have a lot of data out there."

There will be more data as planes get kitted out in sensors, which will produce additional insights into improvements. All that data means that the next stage of aviation could look different. Algorithms could develop new plane designs and come up with flight plans, taking into account speed, comfort, and emissions.

"We don't have to evolve like aviation has done the last hundred years," Kapoor says.

But for this to happen, more than technology has to evolve; countries will need to change legislation, and airlines will need to fund expensive research. It will take incentives to encourage the aviation industry to become sustainable. Janice Lao-Noche, an environmental scientist and development economist, says it's going to take a lot of flygskam and maybe the pain of climate change disrupting more flights for all the innovations to take off.

"I don't think it's futile," Lao-Noche says. "[But] this is going to be, no pun intended, a bumpy ride for the aviation industry."

Jackie Snow is a technology and travel writer based in Washington, D.C. Follow her on Instagram.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to include a reference to the first KLM flight powered by synthetic fuel.

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Greener air travel will depend on these emerging technologies

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Electric engines, alternative fuels, and better navigation could reduce emissions-and mitigate the impacts of a global return to the skies.

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Innovations in Aircraft Design:

How have aircraft designs changed from propeller-driven planes to jet engines?

How do new inventions make airplanes better?

Lightweight Materials: Research materials like carbon fiber, which are used in modern airplanes to make them lighter and stronger than those made from traditional materials like aluminum.

Jet Engines: Explain how jet engines have evolved over the years to become more powerful and efficient, allowing airplanes to fly faster and further.

Wing Design: Introduce ideas like winglets, which are the curved tips on airplane wings that help reduce drag and save fuel.

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9:industry,innovation and infrastructure

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Credit: Chris Gash

AIRLINES WANT TO GO GREEN

When airline executives think about how to make air travel more sustainable, the biggest arrow points to the fuel burned to keep planes in the air. "For short-haul flights, there's some encouraging movement for zero-emission planes, such as those running on electricity," Pavlenko says. "But for everything else, it comes down to what fuel you can switch to."

The goal of using sustainable aviation fuels, or SAFs, is to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during the lifetime of the fuels, from production to combustion, compared with current petroleum-based jet fuels. The scale of that reduction depends on the process used to make the fuel and the carbon source. And even though some SAFs boast significant emission reductions, few are made at large scale.

Generally, commercial airliners use kerosene fuels called Jet A and Jet A-1. They're mixtures of paraffins, naphthenes, aromatics, and olefins and are mostly derived from petroleum. Some companies, such as Airbus, which declined to be interviewed for this story, are looking to hydrogen as a fuel, since it combusts to produce water vapor. But developing H ₂-burning engines is in early stages, so such planes are still far in the future.

Most companies are looking instead at drop-in fuels, or fuels that can work with existing jet engines. They need to have similar properties to jet fuel, including their energy released when burned, performance at low temperatures, and flow. These specifications ensure that the fuels will behave the same way fossil-derived jet fuel does in an airplane's engine, Pavlenko says. One way fuel manufacturers get SAFs to match these specifications is by blending them with conventional jet fuel, he says. How much is blended varies quite a bit, however. Most SAFs need to be blended 50:50 with Jet A-1. And while there's interest in SAFs that don't need to be blended, none have been commercially approved, according to Pavlenko. The standards these 100% SAF fuels would have to meet haven't even been set yet and will take probably 3-5 years to get completed, Rick Barraza, vice president of administration at the alternative-fuel company Fulcrum BioEnergy, says in an email.

There are three main ways to make SAFs: from hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA), Fischer-Tropsch synthetic paraffinic kerosene (FT-SPK), and alcohol-to-jet synthetic paraffinic kerosene (ATJ-SPK). All three can be used at similar blend levels, around 50%.

To make HEFA fuels, industrial scientists remove the oxygens from molecules in unused vegetable oils, or waste fats, oils, and greases. Then they treat the mixtures with hydrogen to yield burnable hydrocarbons the right length for jet fuel, usually between 10 and 20 carbons long, according to the ICCT. Compared with Jet A and Jet A-1, these fuels are the most cost competitive SAF technology, Pavlenko says.

To make Fischer-Tropsch-SPK, scientists oxidize a wide variety of plant and human wastes and residues to make synthesis gas, a mixture of H ₂ and carbon monoxide. Adding a catalyst-usually iron, cobalt, or ruthenium-to this gas triggers Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, which produces hydrocarbons.

The sources for alcohol-to-jet-SPK are crops such as sugarcane and corn, plant and agriculture wastes, and in some cases industrial flue gases. Generally, scientists convert these feedstocks to ethanol or isobutyl alcohol and then upgrade the alcohols to long-chain kerosene by removing water, treating them with hydrogen, and combining short-chain hydrocarbons to form longer ones.

These three alternative fuels don't have the same impact on the environment. The ICCT recently released a report showing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during various alternative fuels' life cycles, including growing or collecting the carbon sources, synthesizing the fuels, and combusting them in an engine. The data came from the International Civil Aviation Organization's Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation program, a United Nations effort.

The ICCT found that alcohol-to-jet-SPK fuels tend to have higher emissions than HEFA or Fischer-Tropsch-SPK fuels because making alcohols from starch-based crops takes a lot of energy and emits substantial amounts of greenhouse gases. In general, biofuels made from wastes and by-products tend to have lower greenhouse gas emissions than crop-based ones, the ICCT's Pavlenko says.

The SAF industry is shifting more to such waste-based fuels, according to Aaron Robinson, senior manager of environmental strategy and sustainability for United Airlines. Ten years ago, alternative-fuel companies focused on growing crops for biofuels. "Two out of our first three SAF flights were powered by agriculturally grown material," he says. "That's the way we thought the industry was going to be going." But life-cycle analyses have shown how environmentally costly that route can be. When the fuel source is a food crop, the process contributes to deforestation because more land is needed to grow the additional crops, Pavlenko says.

No fuel companies currently produce Fischer-Tropsch-SPKs, so the fuel currently in production with the lowest lifetime GHG emissions is HEFA, depending on the feedstocks. "Some SAFs actually don't offer very many, if any, greenhouse gas savings at all, such as palm oil-derived biofuel, whereas others can have greenhouse gas reductions approaching 100%," Pavlenko says. Used cooking oil and waste animal fats have lower lifetime emissions and are more popular than palm oil, he says.

The company closest to commercial production of Fischer-Tropsch-SPKs is Fulcrum BioEnergy in Pleasanton, California. This company's technology uses municipal solid waste, also known as trash, to make jet fuel. Fulcrum plans to start producing biofuel in the last quarter of this year at its plant just east of Reno, Nevada, Vice President Barraza says. The company plans to build eight other plants with a total production of about 1.5 billion L per year, enough to meet the needs of United and other partners, which include Cathay Pacific Airways and Japan Airlines, Barraza says.

Using municipal solid waste as a feedstock for jet fuel could provide significant greenhouse gas emission savings. Generally, the breakdown of municipal solid waste in landfills produces methane, which has over 28 times the climate change impact of CO ₂ over 100 years. "By diverting [municipal solid waste] away from the landfill, we are thereby avoiding all that methane from being generated," Barraza says. The overall greenhouse gas life-cycle analysis for municipal solid waste fuel shows that this pathway can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 85% compared with fossil fuels. But the key is the company must first remove plastic waste from the trash.

Plastic sitting in a landfill is actually a form of carbon storage, the ICCT's Pavlenko says. "But if you're converting it into fuel and combusting it, that carbon that would have been safely in the ground for a long time, now it's in the atmosphere," he says. Barraza says the waste feedstock the company uses is mostly organic or biogenic material. "We have the ability to remove a fair amount of the high-value plastics and metals from the raw MSW as part of our feedstock preparation process," he says.

Powering airplanes with waste is certainly the dream for sustainable flight, and a viable one, United's Robinson says. "You could power all of United using just 20% of US landfill waste."

But the reality is that relative to total amounts of jet fuel, airlines aren't using a lot of SAFs right now. "It's less than 0.1% globally," Pavlenko says. For example, United has used about 3.8 million L of SAFs per year in recent years, compared with more than 15 billion L per year of conventional jet fuel, Robinson says. To bump up the amount of SAFs it has access to, United has struck deals with Fulcrum and World Energy, he says. Delta and JetBlue have agreements to purchase SAFs from the Finnish company Neste. These agreements give airlines both price and source certainty for future fuels and provide the fuel companies with a future market for their products.

Fulcrum's Barraza declines to provide details about the timeline for delivering the fuel the firm has promised to United. The big question, Robinson says, is how much the fuel is going to cost and if United can get it soon enough to make a difference in lowering emissions.

The materials used in every part of a plane can determine its weight, aerodynamics, and resistance to the wear and tear of whooshing through the atmosphere. What these materials, and the coatings applied to them, are made of and how they perform can therefore significantly affect a plane's environmental impact. Companies and researchers are now investigating lighter and less toxic materials and coatings for the more sustainable planes of the future.

An airplane's weight significantly contributes to its carbon footprint because lighter aircraft need less fuel to operate, and less fuel burned means lower emissions. One way to make airplanes lighter is to change what they're made of.

Airplanes were historically made of metal, usually an aluminum alloy. Now some new airplanes, such as the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350, are about 55% composite materials instead, says Samit Roy, an aerospace engineer at the University of Alabama. A composite is anything made up of two or more materials. For example, some companies build aircraft wings, tails, and parts of the fuselage with polymers that have embedded carbon or glass fibers. Composites can reduce the weight of airplanes by up to 20%, Roy says.

Roy's group is working on new composites consisting of carbon fiber with embedded nanoparticles. In addition to being lightweight, these materials can be 3D printed. Printing would reduce material loss because parts can be produced in the exact size and shape needed instead of being cut out from a larger piece of material, as is done with aluminum, Roy says.

Roy and colleagues also want to make these composites conductive. "If an aluminum aircraft like a 747 gets struck by lightning, the lightning passes right through on the skin of the aircraft, doing minimal or no damage," Roy says. But most composite materials used in aircraft are not conductive on their own, so a direct zap could do serious damage. To protect against this, aircraft manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus put copper mesh over the fuselage of their composite planes, but that layer adds cost and weight, Roy says. To improve electrical conductivity and let planes ditch the heavy copper layer, scientists are developing reinforced composites with nanographene or carbon nanotubes, and conductive polymers.

Coatings' main purpose is to add new functions and properties to surfaces, says Lars Haubold, manager for coating technology at the diamonds and coatings division of Fraunhofer USA Center Midwest, a research nonprofit that is partnered with Michigan State University. Coatings provide corrosion protection, add insulation, reduce air friction, or simply decorate the plane with a company's logo. Pretty much every part of a commercial airplane gets some kind of coating, whether it's the windows to add ultraviolet light protection, the landing gear to keep the mechanics from rusting, or the tray tables to make them stain resistant.

One of the primary jobs of some coatings is to keep a part from rusting and breaking down. For many years, the go-to corrosion inhibitor in airline industry coatings was hexavalent chromium, also called chrome. Unfortunately, the compound is a known carcinogen and is harmful to the eyes, skin, and respiratory system. Cr(VI) has contaminated water supplies in a few well-known cases, such as the one featured in the movie Erin Brockovich. Because of Cr(VI)'s health and environmental issues, the US Environmental Protection Agency limits chromium emissions in electroplating and levels in drinking water. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration also lists the compound as a carcinogen and regulates workers' exposure to it.

Coatings companies have been trying to eliminate the compound for a very long time, says Robin Peffer, the global marketing manager for aerospace coatings at the paint and coatings company PPG Industries. The company is looking to alternatives with alkali earth, rare earth, and transition-metal compounds. In addition to being less toxic, chrome-free materials can potentially be lighter. "So if we have a primer that's 20 or 30% lighter than standard chromated primers today, that's going to have a direct impact on fuel efficiency for the aircraft," Peffer says.

Changing the way coatings get applied is another way to improve sustainability. Chrome-based coatings typically need to be sprayed on, Peffer says. Many of the alternative anticorrosion coatings can be applied by immersing the parts in a coating solution instead. This process allows coatings companies to apply the material more efficiently, especially to complex shapes. "We can get upwards of 75% or more weight savings because we're putting the coating on more uniformly across the part than we can with spray," Peffer says.

Plasma electrolytic oxidation is another potential way to apply coatings. This method is similar to anodizing, which electrochemically converts a metal to its oxide, making it more durable and corrosion resistant. In plasma electrolytic oxidation, scientists apply between 200 and 1,000 V to a metal submersed in a coating solution, heating the material up to its plasma state, around 10,000 °C, says Ankit Khurana, vice president for engineering at Keronite, a start-up surface technology company. The material's lattice structure then opens up, allowing the material to be infused with particles from the surrounding solution. This process embeds the coating material into the metal while it converts into an oxide layer, he says.

The resulting layer is both thinner and harder than one created by traditional anodizing, Keronite CEO Matt Hamblin says. "The coatings are anywhere from 5 to 35 μm thick, so they really carry no weight at all," he says.

Plasma electrolytic oxidation coatings also are three to four times as wear resistant, so they can be replaced less frequently, Hamblin says. Commercial airliners fly an average 3,500 h per year, so their coatings need to be replaced at regular intervals, some as often as every 3 months. A longer-lasting coating means less time in the repair hangar and less overall material used, Hamblin says, providing both cost savings for the airline and improved sustainability.

One thing to keep in mind, Hamblin says, is that a lot of these technologies are going into airplanes currently being designed that will be flying years from now, not what's currently in the air. Airline companies have "a tendency to redesign or reuse what they've already got, maybe with a slight tweak," he says. "You don't necessarily see these huge shifts." And because airlines use their planes for a long time, current coating technologies will probably still be used on planes in the air for the next 25 years.

The University of Alabama's Roy agrees that these technologies will find commercial use down the road. "That's what research is all about, the look ahead," he says. But as time goes on, more and more airline companies and science agencies are becoming aware of how important sustainable materials technology is, Roy says. "I think now they're waking up more to it. The possibility."

Supersonic air travel has had a mixed record of success. Operating from 1976 to 2003, the Concorde could fly between London and New York City in around 3 h and was considered a marvel of aerospace engineering. But the plane was retired because both airlines that operated the flights, Air France and British Airways, were losing money on the supersonic routes.

Since then, supersonic airline companies have popped up and petered out. One new company, though, is getting attention for its sustainability goals. Boom Supersonic, an aircraft start-up based in Denver, made headlines in June when United Airlines agreed to buy 15 of its supersonic Overture airplanes, with an option to buy 35 more. Both Boom and United have highlighted the deal as helping United meet its sustainability initiative to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. In numerous press releases, Boom has announced that Overture is "expected to be the first large commercial aircraft to be net-zero carbon from day one, optimized to run on 100% sustainable aviation fuel." Boom has rarely spoken to the press about the details of its sustainability plans and declined to be interviewed for this story.

Critics, however, aren't so sure about the company's sustainability claims. Supersonic flight would have to overcome some significant obstacles to become both sustainable and financially viable. Here is a look at some of those hurdles.
Disclosure: The author has a relative that works at an airline not mentioned in the story.

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Airlines want to make flight more sustainable. How will they do it?

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Air travel produces millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide each year. New technologies could help airlines reduce their emissions and meet their sustainability goals

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. aviation used up to about 3% of Earth world’s greenhouse-gas emissions—nearly one  gigaton during 2019

. Apply more snug seating arrangements. So, customers can enjoy the flight better and more comfortable rides.

. captaincy-navigating by allusion to detectable landmarks, dead reckoning-calculations of guidance and length from a recognized location and radio navigation-by usage of radio aids

. Load more passengers onto aircrafts. So, less aircrafts are being used. Leading to less CO2 emissions.

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1. Environmental Responsibility in Aviation:

Fuel Efficiency: Explore how new engine technologies and aerodynamic designs help airplanes burn less fuel, leading to fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

Alternative Fuels: Research the use of biofuels and the research into electric planes as ways to reduce the environmental impact of air travel.

Noise Reduction Technologies: Research how newer airplanes are designed to be quieter, reducing noise pollution around airports and nearby areas.

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So we worked on our Padlet more and we continued our research and we sent an email to emarites airlines for an interview

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Airplane manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus have been working on electric engines testing new fuels like biofuels and synthetic fuel. Which support’s sustainability and reduces carbon emissions so it will not harm the environment around it.

Aviation is responsible for 2.5% of the worlds carbon emissions. Aviation industries are planning to use alternative fuels like biofuel or just going electric but electric planes haven’t been able to be manufactured since the batteries are to bulky and heavy with not much power for a long trip.

In early 2024 airbus has made another aircraft and it supports sustainable fuel, it is called the Airbus A321 Neo. On its first ever flight it was powered with 30% sustainable fuel, plus it is very quiet for a plane during the whole flight, it ranged from 60 - 80 decibels, making it one of the most quietest plane in the world! Which is amazing for planes as planes are usually very loud, but this plane is extremely quiet so it may reduce noise pollution.

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We used our self management by taking responsibility when someone is not doing anything we don’t stop working we continue working and tell him to start working as well and when there is rain we meet online and start working on the exhibition.

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We used our communication skills by messaging at home or at school when someone is sick, when we are working and checking each others work so it’s good and approved by everyone in the group.

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We need to use our social skills while one of us is absent so we can help our partners for our house

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We used our thinking skills when we were thinking of questions for the interview with emirates airlines and lines of inquiry

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Our central idea is: scientific inventions influence airplane designs,aiding worldwide travel and supporting sustainability my members are Shahem vibhav Omar we also found our SDG goals 9 : Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure And 8 :Decent Work and Economic Growth

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Our central idea is: scientific inventions influence airplane designs,aiding worldwide travel and supporting sustainability my members are Shahem vibhav Omar we also found our SDG goals 9 : Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure And 8 :Decent Work and Economic Growth

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So for weeks 4 we got a reply from emarites airlines and said we could come on Monday,6 at 11:30 but we weren’t ready so we decided to reschedule the meeting.

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“EgyptAir is launching many awareness activities about its initiatives for sustainability such as the operation of the longest flight powered by 30/70 blend of Sustainable aviation fuel and conventional kerosene. At EgyptAir, we are committed to the sustainable development of the industry in conducting our business. Our fleet modernization plan contributed to reducing our fuel consumption by 20% and decreasing our total CO2 emission,”

- Captain Amr Nabil

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Email And interview  Engineer’s from emirates Etihad and fly dubai. As well as some older pilots

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Make a video to tell people about the carbon emissions planes use and that we should try and help do something

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Check out this design designed by Shabana Nawaz Ahmed.

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https://www.quora.com/What-technology-will-make-airplanes-more-environmentally-friendly#:~:text=Companies%20like%20Airbus%20and%20Boeing,to%20significantly%20reduce%20carbon%20emissions

https://www.sabre.com/insights/five-ways-technology-can-make-flying-more-sustainable-now/

https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/stories/2023-03-airbus-most-popular-aircraft-takes-to-the-skies-with-100-sustainable

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So far we have interviewed one company which is fly emarites and we have worked very hard on the padlet and our next interview are fly Dubai and etihad.

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His excellency Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, CEO of Emirates Group, fly Dubai and Dubai Airports, said: “Sustainability is a key focus across operations at the Emirates Group, flydubai and Dubai Airports. The UAE is a major global aviation hub, and in line with the nation’s eyes to make sure that sustainable development while preserving the environment.

Bibliography: https://news.flydubai.com/dnata-successfully-completes-green-turnaround-of-flydubais-aircraft-at-dubai-international-dxb

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https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/01/26/1067290/new-technologies-clean-up-air-travel/

https://www.newswise.com/resources/expert-query?article_id=789349

https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/18_phak_ch16.pdf

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-22/a-greener-future-for-airlines-depends-on-passengers-being-uncomfortable

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Etihad is also working hard to make flying more sustainable as their ground crew vehicles are mostly electric and they are also trying to develop sustainable aviation fuel. Aswell Etihad has stopped using paper for stuff like magazines, Emergency card etc

Site:
https://www.etihad.com/en-ae/sustainability/what-we-are-doing