2023-07-25 09:30:16
The 2023 edition of the Paris Air Show, which was held last June, enabled the French and global aeronautics sector to present innovative electric aircraft, with the aim of limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
The aviation sector has set itself the goal of being carbon neutral by 2050. To achieve this, it is first necessary to optimize, ecologically speaking, the aircraft currently flying and powered by kerosene. Weight of aircraft, structure, aerodynamics are parameters that can help develop more efficient aircraft, that is to say that consume less. However, all these improvements combined do not provide sufficient leverage to significantly reduce emissions from air traffic. As for the airliners that are used today, and whose number will double by 2030, a solution to reduce the carbon footprint of the aviation sector is at the level of biofuels: the latter, mixed with kerosene, in very small quantities for the moment, might be used more massively, with a limit of 50% (fossil fuel and biofuel are then present in equal quantities in the mixture). Even though their large-scale production poses other problems (cultivated areas required, price, etc.).
Beyond that, the aeronautical sector is aware that it will take a technological breakthrough, also known as the “aircraft of the future”, to allow the aviation sector to see its traffic growing continuously as planned, while being more sober.
This 2023 edition of the Paris Air Show allowed visitors to discover prototypes, and aircraft already on the market, which operate thanks to these famous breakthrough technologies. And knowing that these innovative technologies obviously have certain constraints. Electric technologies developed for aviation are an example of this: they allow zero greenhouse gas emissions in operation, but have significant limits in terms of range and passenger transport capacity.
Le Cassio 330 by VoltAero ©SIAE2023
The French start-up VoltAero, created in September 2017, was present at the show, in particular to present the VoltAero Cassio 330. This latest addition to the Cassio series is a hybrid electric aircraft that can carry five people, with a 330 kW combined electric hybrid drive. This hybrid propulsion allows the aircraft to save 20% fuel. The other Cassio 480 and Cassio 600 models can carry six and twelve passengers respectively, and have a combined power of 480 and 600 kW. Cassio 330 will be able to fly for 3.5 hours, and should begin to be delivered from 2024. Potential customers are taxi companies, regional flights, delivery, medical evacuation… an example that illustrates the new landscape that is currently emerging in the aeronautical sector, with new uses. And especially short flight times. Hence the interest of being able to land easily. This is the principle of the Evtol, these electric aircraft that can carry passengers, and which take off and land vertically.
Volocity, the flying taxi of the Volocopter company. ©SIAE2023
The German company Volocopter was present at Le Bourget, in particular to promote its Evtol model, Volocity. The German manufacturer has been developing this type of aircraft since 2011 and is a pioneer in the field of Evtol. Volocity is a drone, equipped with two seats and 18 rotors, which has already carried out several test flights over German cities. It has powered its rotors with batteries that can be changed quickly to increase flight frequency. A 100% electric solution, which therefore makes it possible to transport two people, and which is designed for urban use. These flying taxis might offer alternative solutions to public transport, between an airport and a station for example.
These innovations, which make it possible to see the development of electric aircraft which emit less or even no CO2 during use, are reserved for uses which are essentially of the order of urban or even regional mobility. A new market therefore for the aeronautical sector, alongside that of long-haul flights, which will never be able to operate entirely on electricity.
By PT
Front page image: Dassault’s NGF ©SIAE2023
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