BRUSSELS – 27 SEPTEMBER 2022. Today, the Governing Board (GB) of Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking (CAJU) has approved funding of over EUR 700 million for 20 projects researching innovative solutions to power the next generation of sustainable aircraft and to support EU Green Deal ambitions for a climate-neutral future.
“Making the Europe the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050 is our top priority.” said Rosalinde van der Vlies, Chair of the Governing Board, Director, Clean Planet, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission. “Investing in research to develop disruptive technologies is essential for delivering on our Green Deal objectives, and the Clean Aviation programme will be pivotal in terms of bringing aviation in line with this objective and allowing European citizens to fly without having to worry about their emission footprint.”
Sabine Klauke, Co-chair of the Governing Board, Chief Technical Officer, Airbus underlined: “The European aviation industry is excited to work in partnership with the EU and the whole eco-system of SME’s, Research Centres and Universities on these promising disruptive projects that will enable us collectively to decarbonise aviation and make it fit for the future.”
The 20 successful projects cover 14 topics elaborated from the “Clean Aviation Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA)” built around 3 thrusts:
- Hydrogen-powered aircraft
- Hybrid Electric Regional aircraft
- Ultra-Efficient Short and Medium Range aircraft
Swift adoption of these technologies from 2035 will enable the biggest step-change reduction in aviation’s climate impact by 2050, together with the accelerated adoption of low or zero-carbon energy sources and fuels e.g. clean hydrogen and/or sustainable aviation fuels.
The budget of over EUR 700 million has been allocated following a Call for Proposals closed in June and careful evaluation of the submitted proposals by independent experts. The official launch of projects is still subject to legal redress and to successful completion of grant preparation which will start in the coming days, targeted to be completed by the end of 2022.
Axel Krein, Executive Director of the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking: “We are delighted with today’s approval of the Governing Board after tremendous efforts in setting up the Clean Aviation Public-Private Partnership and in evaluating all the applications to our successful first Call for Proposals. After completion of the grant negotiations, we can give the green light to start the critical research and engineering work to accelerate the transition to sustainable aviation.”
About the Call for Proposals
The Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking’s first Call for Proposals launched in March was the largest organised so far. The call was open to competition in accordance with the general provisions of the European Union’s Horizon Europe framework programme for research and innovation, of which it is a part.
The list of topics for research, together with the names of winning consortia and members is enclosed.
About Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking:
The Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking is the European Union’s leading research and innovation programme for transforming aviation towards a sustainable and climate neutral future.
Pulling together the best talent and capabilities of the private and public sectors and developing cutting-edge technologies and making these available for a transformational leap in aircraft performance in the 2030s, the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking will pave the way towards the EU’s ambition of climate neutrality by 2050.
Operating at the centre of a broad and diverse eco-system of players across Europe ranging from the aeronautical community, pioneering SMEs, research establishments and academia, it acts as a hub for new ideas and bold innovations.
As a European public-private partnership, Clean Aviation pushes aeronautical science beyond the limits of imagination by creating new technologies that will significantly reduce aviation's impact on the planet, enabling future generations to enjoy the social and economic benefits of air travel far into the future.
Visit our website to find out more about Clean Aviation: www.clean-aviation.eu
Press Contact: Pascale Wauters, Head of Communications a.i.: 0475.64.04.22