Green sky thinking for EU aviation

As flight passenger numbers increase 5% each year, pressure has mounted to find a greener alternative to current forms of aviation technology. The four companies have secured financial assistance from the EC, which will stump up half the cash required to fund the initiative.

''The programme is so huge that if we don’t work with the EC, we’ll never succeed,''says Myriam Goldsztejn, Dassault's deputy director of research and technology.

The companies are funding the other half of the project with their own capital, an investment which speculators think will be reaped back in the form of carbon credits on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, as well as being able to use reduced emissions figures in their environmental key performance indicators as part of the business review. The programme aims for:

50% reduction in CO2 emissions through better fuel economy;
80% reduction in nitrous oxide emissions;
50% reduction in noise;