At this year’s Berlin and Farnborough Air Shows, EADS showcased the world’s first flight of an aircraft powered by pure biofuel made from algae. To great acclaim, a Diamond DA42 New Generation aircraft powered by two Austro AE300 engines took part in the daily flight demonstrations.

 
Only minor modifications and adjustments have to be made to the aircraft to run on algae based biofuel and consumption is lower compared to conventional JET-A1 fuel due to its high energy content.

“All other demonstrations with third-generation biofuel have been done with blends,” said EADS research and technology chief Jean Botti. “This is the first time anyone has done it with 100% biofuel.” Bench tests with algae biofuel in the AE300 engine indicate fuel savings of 5-10% over kerosene as the biofuel burns more efficiently. “We are amazed that it had better combustion than kerosene,” added Botti.

Such developments are a good match with the efficiency goals set by IATA which include an average improvement in fuel efficiency of 1.5% per year to 2020, a cap on aviation CO2 emissions from 2020 to ensure carbon-neutral growth and a goal to reduce CO2 emissions 50% by 2050 compared to 2005.

EADS, its partners and many other companies are currently researching further to support the growth of an algae-powered industry. Cost efficiency is key in the immediate future: currently it is more expensive to produce fuel from algae in comparison to sourcing crude oil. So if algae-based fuel is to compete with kerosene, research and development work must aim to establish an effective mass production to ensure availability in the near future.

Another research project spearheaded by EADS is a concept helicopter featuring a diesel-electric hybrid propulsion system. With the potential to halve fuel consumption compared to a typical twin-turbine helicopter, it uses two opposed piston opposed cylinder diesel engines supplied by EcoMotors International of the USA to generate electrical power for the main and tail rotors.

The engines alone are around 30% more fuel efficient than today’s turbine engines, while other weight savings and aerodynamic improvements facilitated by the hybrid architecture increase the total potential fuel saving to 50%, says EADS.