Ecology of Aviation: Eco-Balance, Sustainability and Alternative Energy

Contact

List of researchers

Motivation

With an increasing demand for air transport capacities, the limited amount of crude oil available for kerosene production and the imperative contribution to climate protection represent significant challenges for the air transport of the future. Visionary aircraft concepts alone will not be able to cut the global consumption of fossil fuels and the associated emissions of harmful greenhouse gases in a sustainable manner. Climate neutral fuels from regenerative energy sources offer new perspectives. In light of the long implementation periods of new solutions in the aviation industry, such alternatives must be identified and analysed now.

Task

The task of Bauhaus Luftfahrt is to use a profound understanding of energy conversion, climate impact and sustainability to reach future-proof, quantitative conclusions with regard to alternative fuels, and to identify promising research and development options. The fundamental and long-term issues are

1. the availability and properties of energy alternatives, as well as processing methods.
2. assessing the whole system, taking costs and benefits into account, as well as the efficiency potential and eco-balance.

Approach

The ecological perspectives of aviation are predominantly discussed in the following categories:

• fuel technologies (e.g. types, processing methods, properties, etc.);
• bio derivatives (e.g. availability, potential, sustainability, etc.);
• fuel assessment methods and metrics.

A constant process of synthesising combines proprietary research results on alternative fuel options with state-of-the-art international scientific and application-oriented research. In order to assess the energy options and develop key relationships, it is crucial to define common standards and methods. Such key relationships (e.g. the product lifecycle of aircraft systems in comparison to the "peak" of global oil production) contribute to a deeper understanding in the industry and in society, and form a well-grounded basis for decision-making with regard to future alternatives for the aviation industry.