Airbus and Boeing different paths to a Net-Zero 2050 goal- a bet too important for the environment; Mike Whitaker should seek a unified global approach?

AVIATION has accepted, politics have compelled, and industry has recognized the intrinsic obligation to reach a 2050 environmental “net-zero” carbon emissions goal. Below is a FlightGlobal erudite article analyzing Boeing’s CEO’s claim that its truss-brace-wing X-66A aircraft plus the CFM RISE engine may improve green performance by as much as 30% with the introduction of this innovative single aisle airliner.

A great expression of evolving technology’s ability to reduce aviation’s carbon footprint; however, innovation does not always complete its time schedule or its expected performance. It is also worthwhile to note, even with the SEC requirements, the optimistic view may reflect aerospace’s history of competitively driven pronouncements.

Airbus’ public statements (=/- corporate smoke) reveal their Green Goal in these three initiatives:

• ZEROe: This is a concept for the world’s first HYDROGEN-powered commercial aircraft, which could reduce CO2 emissions by up to 50%. Airbus aims to launch this aircraft by 2035. It has three different designs: a turbofan, a turboprop, and a blended-wing body¹..
• BLADE: This is a breakthrough laminar aircraft demonstrator, which aims to reduce wing friction by 50%, which could lower in-flight CO2 emissions by up to 5%. It uses a new wing design that minimizes air resistance and drag¹.
• EcoPulse: This is a distributed hybrid-propulsion aircraft demonstrator, which uses multiple electric motors along the wings to improve efficiency and performance. It also uses a combustion engine as a backup power source.

If they are to be believed, the two dominant aerospace are taking different tacks- Airbus is CONFIDANTLY SEARCHING HYDROGEN as its future energy source while the BOEING PERSPECTIVE IS NOT SO POSITIVE^[1]. Even neutral experts have raised substantial questions including storage and distribution.

The attainment of this net-zero 2050 goal is more important than which manufacturer sells more of its products, of its pre-supposed solution. Administrator Whitaker might earn high marks from the Biden White House by advocating a global green solution.

Boeing CEO thinks truss-braced airliner concept could ‘see service’

By Jon Hemmerdinger26 July 2023

Boeing’s development of NASA’s X-66A truss-brace-wing experiment aircraft will either spawn an entirely new class of commercial jetliners or prove the design unfeasible. But the US manufacturer’s chief executive David Calhoun thinks his company might have a winning concept. “If it matures the way we think it will – and [the way] NASA thinks it will – I do think it will see service,” Calhoun said on 26 July of Boeing’s truss-braced-wing airliner concept. “If it behaves like it did in the wind tunnel, we are in a pretty good place,” he adds, speaking during the company’s second-quarter earnings call.

Boeing is widely viewed as on a path to bringing a new narrowbody aircraft – a 737 replacement – to market in the mid-2030s. Calhoun insists it must be significantly more fuel efficient than today’s narrowbodies – on the order of 25-30%, he says on 26 July. The design of Boeing’s next aircraft remains uncertain, but the company has put significant resources lately behind advancing its understanding of a concept it calls the “transonic truss-braced wing”, a design involving a much longer wing, supported by trusses.

In January, NASA said it picked Boeing to develop just such an experimental aircraft, dubbed the X-66A. The agency is kicking in $425 million of the project’s expected $1.15 billion cost, with Boeing and other commercial partners contributing the balance. Boeing is developing the aircraft using an MD-90 fuselage as its structure, and NASA aims for it to fly in 2028.The concept calls for the aircraft’s wings to be mounted atop its fuselage, and for those wings to have a significantly greater aspect ratio than conventional wings.

Aspect ratios denote the relationship between a wing’s span and area. Higher-ratio wings have comparatively longer spans and are GENERALLY MORE EFFICIENT. But long wings can need extra support from trusses, as with the X-66A. NASA says a truss-braced wing could make the next narrowbody airliner 10% MORE EFFICIENT, with other technologies (such as advanced engines) bringing TOTAL EFFICIENCY GAIN AS HIGH AS 30%.

“We are intent on proving this technology,” Calhoun says on 26 July. “We like what it could potentially deliver to this market.” He adds that a truss-based-wing jetliner could be powered by either larger-diameter turbofans or by an open-rotor engine, which would also be wider than current narrowbody engines. The aircraft’s high-mounted-wing configuration would leave enough space for such powerplants.

CFM International has bet big on open rotors. It is developing such a powerplant under its Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines^[2] (RISE) programme, shooting for a 20% efficiency gain.

NASA’s X-66A development project is part of its Sustainable Flight Demonstrator programme, an effort to mature aircraft designs and technologies that can improve fuel efficiency.

Boeing is anything but new to truss-braced wing development, having worked with NASA for more than a decade to develop a workable design. It and NASA evaluated concept starting in 2008 as part of NASA’s Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research project, evaluating wings with aspect ratios of 14 and higher, according to NASA. By comparison, wings on current narrowbodies have aspect ratios of roughly 8-10, various sources show. Such high-aspect ratios to pose challenges, including a propensity for the wings to wobble and develop a dangerous condition called flutter, which trusses can alleviate.

ZEROe: This is a concept for the world’s first hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft, which could reduce CO2 emissions by up to 50%. Airbus aims to launch this aircraft by 2035. It has three different designs: a turbofan, a turboprop, and a blended-wing body¹..

BLADE: This is a breakthrough laminar aircraft demonstrator, which aims to reduce wing friction by 50%, which could lower in-flight CO2 emissions by up to 5%. It uses a new wing design that minimizes air resistance and drag¹.

EcoPulse: This is a distributed hybrid-propulsion aircraft demonstrator, which uses multiple electric motors along the wings to improve efficiency and performance. It also uses a combustion engine as a backup power source.

1. hydrogen appears a very appealing prospect. It’s lighter than fossil fuels; it produces only water vapor as a by-product and has around 2.5 times more energy per kilogram than kerosene. However, it’s also difficult to utilize in its natural form, and needs to be supercooled and super-compressed before it can be used as a fuel. ↑

2. The pursuit of ever-increasing propulsive efficiency has driven the growth of engine fan diameter in commercial jet engines over the past five decades. This progression is ultimately leading to the open fan concept which is currently the most efficient and sustainable option to improve the propulsive efficiency of the engine. The advanced open fan architecture to be demonstrated as part of the RISE program will fly at the same speed as current single-aisle aircraft (up to Mach 0.8, or 80 percent the speed of sound) with a noise signature that will meet anticipated future regulations. ↑