Brazilian major aerospace group Embraer, leading British propulsion and power systems group Rolls-Royce and Norwegian aviation group Widderøe have announced that they are to jointly study a concept for a zero-emission regional aircraft. The study will run for 12 months, and will be a pre-competitive research and development project.

The research will have two main foci. One will be to address the requirements of passengers, seeking to remain connected following the Covid-19 pandemic, but in a sustainable manner, while the other will be to increase knowledge of the technologies required to transition to sustainable aviation.

As part of the project, the study will examine many applications for new propulsion technologies. These include hydrogen fuelled gas turbines, hydrogen fuel cell, or all-electric, aircraft engines. The development and deployment of various sustainable technologies will allow governments to continue to support air passenger traffic while retaining most existing infrastructure, but adapted to be more sustainable.

Between them, the three groups contain a wide range of deep expertise that covers the commercial aviation value chain. This includes aircraft design and manufacture, propulsion system design and manufacture, market demand, and commercial flight operations.

“Technological innovations can potentially enable clean and renewable energy to power a new era of regional aviation,” highlighted Embraer Commercial Aviation president and CEO Arjan Meijer. “The aim of our collaboration is to create new flight solutions that serve expanded market segments in a sustainable manner. I strongly believe this could lead to fully sustainable connectivity, including (very) [sic] short haul intercity operations.”

“This is an exciting project which will shape our thinking on solutions for net-zero [emissions] regional operation,” affirmed Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace president Chris Cholerton. “As pioneers of power, this is the kind of engineering challenge that we relish. We have an excellent working relationship with both Embraer and Widderøe, and look forward to deepening our collaboration.”

“We are excited to take part in this highly interesting research,” stated Widderøe subsidiary Widderøe Zero CEO Andreas Aks. “Working with the world’s leading aerospace technology firms, our aim is to understand how viable business can be built around zero emissions regional concepts, and to advise the manufacturers on operational requirements and customer expectations to design the best possible and sustainable air mobility service.”