Embraer, Widerøe and Rolls-Royce have announced plans to study a conceptual zero-emission regional aircraft. The 12-month cooperation study – in the context of pre-competitive research and development – will address passenger requirements to stay connected in a post COVID-19 world but do so sustainably and seeks to accelerate the knowledge of the technologies necessary for this transition. Such technologies will allow national governments to continue to support passenger mobility while reusing most of the existing infrastructure in a more sustainable way.
Advances in scientific research can make clean and renewable energy a major enabler of a new era of regional aviation and the three companies will share their combined in-depth knowledge of aircraft design, market demand, operations and propulsion solutions to further develop their understanding of zero-emission technologies and how they can be matured and applied to future regional aircraft. Among other topics, the study will cover a wide range of applications for new propulsion technologies to examine a range of potential solutions – including all-electric, hydrogen fuel cell or hydrogen fuelled gas turbine powered aircraft.
