Low-carbon aviation: how far can we go? – UCL Energy Seminar

The seminar is now available on YouTube:

Summary

Currently, demand for flights is projected to carry on growing at 4-5% per year. The reduction in per-flight emissions that is achievable from adjustments to conventional aircraft and operations is much lower than this, suggesting that direct CO2 from aviation – as well as non-CO2 climate impacts such as those from NOx and contrails – will continue to rise.

But is carbon-neutral growth in aviation possible? What about zero-carbon aviation? More radical technological changes are being explored by industry, governments and academics, including options such as aviation biofuels and electric aircraft. But to what extent will these technologies be adopted in a competitive environment, and how much benefit can they provide? And what impact will they have on airport-area emissions and noise?

Answering these questions requires exploring the complex interactions between passengers, airlines, airports, manufacturers and regulators, and how they might develop to 2050 and beyond. In this seminar, Dr Dray will discuss how we can model the worldwide impact of alternative aircraft technology, and the challenges and barriers that might lie in place. Using the global aviation systems model AIM, Dr Dray will try to shed some light on whether, and how, a low-carbon aviation system could come about.

The seminar will be followed by a drinks reception.

About the speaker

Dr Lynnette Dray is a Senior Research Associate at UCL. She is lead developer on the global systems model AIM, and is currently working on aviation systems modelling and data analysis for the ACCLAIM (Airport Capacity Consequences Leveraging Aviation Integrated Modelling) project.

Other research interests include transportation policy analysis, fleet and technology modelling, aviation externality modelling and system disruption and recovery. She has previously worked on numerous projects developing, adapting and applying transportation models across aviation, shipping, rail and road transportation, and has carried out modelling and advisory work for DfT, the Committee on Climate Change and Eurocontrol.

She has a PhD in astrophysical numerical modelling from the University of Cambridge.

More information

• See Dr Lynnette Dray's academic profile
• Find out more about aviation research at UCL-Energy
• Book a free ticket for this event

Image: Photo by Ethan McArthur on Unsplash

Download Dr Lynnette Dray's presentation

(PDF, 5MB) 

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