UK green aviation technology gets £84 million in grant money

UK green aviation technology gets £84 million in grant money

February 1, 2021 0 By Erin Kilgore

New funding in this sector aims to promote a cleaner air travel industry in the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom’s green aviation technology sector is celebrating £84.6 million in grants, recently announced by Business Minister Paul Scully.

This funding is expected to generate almost 5,000 new jobs while making air travel cleaner.

The multi-million pounds of grants for green aviation technology were funded half by the British government through its ATI Programme and half by industry. Three projects are in receipt of these funds. They will use local innovation and expertise in renewable energy to develop and power zero-emissions aircraft.

These zero-emissions flights will use renewable energy in the form of hydrogen fuel or electricity – or combinations of the two – to shrink the airline industry’s reliance on fossil fuels. The projects receiving the grants are located in several places throughout the UK and are expected to secure as many as 4,750 jobs in design, engineering and manufacturing.

The green aviation technology will be used on flights ranging from overseas to ultra-local.

The idea is to develop the type of zero-emissions tech that can be used to allow passengers to fly abroad without generating greenhouse gases. Equally, the hope is to also power considerably shorter journeys, somewhat comparable to a sky taxi service. This would make it possible to substantially reduce road network congestion and allow passengers to travel more quickly, conveniently and greenly within a local region.

Estimates suggest that at the rate of aerospace tech development, the zero-emissions flights targeted by the projects receiving the grants could be ready as soon as the end of 2023.

“These trailblazing projects are broadening the horizons of future air travel, towards a greener future where we may be able to hail taxis from the sky rather than on our streets,” said Scully. “This multi-million-pound boost will help to secure up to 4,750 jobs in these projects spanning the UK, and could pave the way to technological advances that will allow the industry to build back better and greener following the COVID-19 pandemic – and help tackle climate change.”

Green aviation technology - airplanesThe projects receiving the green aviation technology grants include H2GEAR led by GKN Aerospace, HyFlyer II from ZeroAvia, and InCEPTion from Blue Bear Systems Research.

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