I spent an inspiring and insightful day at Farnborough International this week. Nestled in between the missiles and massive engines, it was wonderful to see so many start-up manufacturers pushing what’s possible in the world beyond Kerosene and SAF.
Electric, hydrogen and hybrid aviation is taking off, at least for short haul flights, however it was disheartening to see the sheer volume of new conventional-fuel aircraft orders (currently around 250) that will add millions of tonnes of CO2 to our atmosphere.
As the excellent Shashank Nigam ✈ and Dirk Singer from Sustainability In The Air have pointed out, "Jevons paradox" has a huge part to play here - yes the new aircraft may be more efficient and theoretically can lower emissions (and this is used a lot in airlines marketing) but the growth of fleet size outweighs these savings and so the net CO2 output still rises.
However by supporting the climate-friendly start-ups, the short haul market could be revolutionised into a clean sector. The cabins of these future aircraft have their own challenges - weight, space and stowage to name a few. Studio ID Design's unique approach to sustainable design will overcome these hurdles and create inspiring, calm spaces that reconnect passengers with the joys of flight.
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