Brazil's Embraer unveils concepts for green planes

Brazilian airliner Embraer has unveiled a series of concepts for a family of four green planes as the global aviation sector looks to curb carbon emissions over the coming decades amid continued pressure from activist groups.

Known as the "Energia" family, the firm has teamed up with a consortium of engineering universities, aeronautical research institutes, and small and medium-sized enterprises to better understand the mechanics of operating green flights as it looks to break into a burgeoning market.

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According to the Air Transport Action (ATA) Group, the aviation sector accounts for roughly 2% of total carbon emissions. However, it is currently one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, which has led to initiatives to curb fuel use over recent years.

The industry is currently targeting a goal of being net-zero by 2050, but a number of climate activists have criticised this deadline as being too unambitious.

The Energia family comprises a series of prototypes for planes powered through different fuel sources, including hydrogen, electric and dual fuel gas turbines, with each set to be tested to assess technical hitches and environmental viability. If current plans are to be the final design, they will all operate at significantly reduced, or in some cases, net-zero emissions.

Details of the planes were unveiled at a livestreamed conference on November 8, ranging from the nine-seat Energia Hybrid, which may reduce emissions by as much as 90%, to the 35-to-50-seat Energia H2 Gas Turbine, which could stand to reduce emissions by 100%.

Embraer revealed it could see a market for at least 4,000 new green planes. It also theorised these planes could be ready to hit the market by between 2030 and 2040, depending on the model.

At the event, Luis Carlos Affonso, the company's VP for Engineering, Technology and Corporate Strategy explained the rationale behind the Energia family, suggesting private sector players should help move the industry forward towards sustainability targets, stressing there was "no single solution" to the challenges presented by the switch to net-zero.

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"We’re working right now to refine the first [aeroplane] concepts, the ones that can start reducing emissions sooner rather than later", he said. "Small aircraft are ideal on which to test and prove new propulsion technologies so that they can be scaled up to larger aircraft. That’s why our Energia family is such an important platform".

These concepts are still relatively early in the design stage, but the company is currently working on ways to curb emissions in its existing fleets, including tests in creating synthetic aviation fuel (SAF) from sugar cane, a biofuel made from the camelina plant, hybridised with fossil fuels.

Embraer hopes to have all its aircraft SAF-ready by the end of the decade.

“We will see a big transformation in our industry towards a more sustainable aviation", said Arjan Meijer, the company's CEO.

"With 50 years experience in developing, certifying and supporting regional aircraft, Embraer is in a unique position to make viable the introduction of new disruptive green technologies", he added.

Embraer is not the only Brazilian company hoping to break into sustainable aviation.

Read more: Gol to bring budget electric air taxis to São Paulo

There currently exist more localised plans to make public transport in the nation more environmentally friendly, such as seen with electric air taxi pioneer Gol, which announced in September it will be launching a fleet of 250 eVTOL aircraft in São Paulo, which could offer cheaper alternatives than its ground-based competitors such as Uber.

Air taxis could also stand to reduce pollution and congestion in Brazil's most populous city, with eVTOL as a sector being a relatively new market, and one which still requires significant innovation to become viable.

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