Photo: Embraer
It takes two to tango, and it takes a whole lot more than that to make commercial aviation green. This a team effort and whoever gets that sooner will have the best chance of making it to the finish line. In this case, we’re talking about regular commercial flights that no longer have a negative environmental footprint.
Air New Zealand is not the only one to compete for the title of “the greenest aviation operator” in the world, but seems to have found the secret for getting there. It’s bringing together quite a few manufacturers and other players in the industry, in something called “Mission NextGen Aircraft.” Sounds like a movie title, and it’s just as exciting.
The New Zealand operator basically wants a brand-new fleet for its future operations, one that will be comprised of some of the coolest new designs out there. More specifically, innovative aircraft that can effectively defeat the CO2 monster. Some will use hydrogen-electric propulsion, others will use green jet fuel. What matters is that they’ll usher in a new era of clean passenger flights.
To get things started, Air New Zealand will be focusing on regional options. First, because it makes sense to implement these revolutionary technologies on smaller types of aircraft, as a stepping stone towards the large airliners of the future. Secondly, this is something that Air New Zealand specializes in, with operations connecting no less than 20 regions in the country.
One of the lead actors in this bold mission is Embraer. Together, these two will work on accelerating the development of zero-emission technology, with a focus on regional fleets. At the same time, the New Zealand operator is joining Embraer’s Energia Advisory Group.
One of the top aircraft manufacturers in the world, Embraer first spoke about its new Energia line back in 2021. We’re not talking about a single aircraft concept, but of something much more complex. There were four concepts included in this line, each boasting a different design and propulsion type. What they all had in common was a zero-emission perspective.
At the end of last year, it was announced that Embraer would be focusing on two of the Energia Family aircraft. One was the Energia Hybrid and the other was the Energia H2 Fuel Cell.
It’s all in the name – the first one features hybrid-electric propulsion and it is meant to run on SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) while the second one is betting on hydrogen. As you can imagine, the Energia Hybrid will offer a better range and will take less time to develop, while the fuel cell prototype is somewhere in the distant future.
However, Embraer plans to have them both ready for take-off by the middle of the next decade. Sounds like a long wait, but perhaps this new partnership will help speed things up.
The New Zealand operator basically wants a brand-new fleet for its future operations, one that will be comprised of some of the coolest new designs out there. More specifically, innovative aircraft that can effectively defeat the CO2 monster. Some will use hydrogen-electric propulsion, others will use green jet fuel. What matters is that they’ll usher in a new era of clean passenger flights.
To get things started, Air New Zealand will be focusing on regional options. First, because it makes sense to implement these revolutionary technologies on smaller types of aircraft, as a stepping stone towards the large airliners of the future. Secondly, this is something that Air New Zealand specializes in, with operations connecting no less than 20 regions in the country.
One of the lead actors in this bold mission is Embraer. Together, these two will work on accelerating the development of zero-emission technology, with a focus on regional fleets. At the same time, the New Zealand operator is joining Embraer’s Energia Advisory Group.
One of the top aircraft manufacturers in the world, Embraer first spoke about its new Energia line back in 2021. We’re not talking about a single aircraft concept, but of something much more complex. There were four concepts included in this line, each boasting a different design and propulsion type. What they all had in common was a zero-emission perspective.
At the end of last year, it was announced that Embraer would be focusing on two of the Energia Family aircraft. One was the Energia Hybrid and the other was the Energia H2 Fuel Cell.
It’s all in the name – the first one features hybrid-electric propulsion and it is meant to run on SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) while the second one is betting on hydrogen. As you can imagine, the Energia Hybrid will offer a better range and will take less time to develop, while the fuel cell prototype is somewhere in the distant future.
However, Embraer plans to have them both ready for take-off by the middle of the next decade. Sounds like a long wait, but perhaps this new partnership will help speed things up.
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